Say Miss Miley's name too fast and you will surely "sound like a smile." After the opening ABC song sung by a chorus of off-key children, host Kristie Patrick calls for Miss Miley, a pink puppet. "Miss Miley is always around to make sure we're having fun," Patrick explains. The grandmotherly puppet draws you in to this simple, kid-paced and educationally sound DVD. Developed by a nurse-mom with the backing of speech-language pathologists, it introduces the earliest consonants preschoolers should master: P, B, M, T, D, K and G. Each letter and corresponding sound is introduced and then expanded upon with pictures, drawings and photographs of words showing the letter in different positions in the word.

Produced in a diverse preschool setting, the warm and inviting teacher slowly enunciates each consonant introduced with five different vowels. Children benefit from seeing the sound produced live rather than just by a puppet. This simple repetitive format appealed to my 2 year-old viewing companion who later was heard repeating "ka, ka, ka" just as it was modeled for him. Using age-appropriate language, the teacher encourages her little viewers to "wiggle" or "give a hug" when practicing "G." Patrick leads short games in between drills, such as a "follow me" game as well as some classics like "Ring Around a Rosy." This DVD isn't flashy but is instructionally sound and if it gets kids to practice sounds, make the association with their corresponding letters, follow directions, and move to the beat, it has done its job.