KIDS FIRST! News

Congratulations to the director Jeff Mizushima for “Etienne”

After Richard’s best and only friend, a dwarf hamster named Etienne, is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decides to take him on a bicycle road trip up the California coast to show him the world before he must put him to sleep.

KIDS FIRST!® Adult Juror Comments: It’s sort of a weird premise but it does make a point about a person’s sensitive and how a pet fills a void in a person’s life like nothing else. Richard is very sweet. As Richard embarks on his road trip, he runs into an interesting assortment of people, shares his woes with him about Etienne’s disease and people respond to him positively. Beautiful locations, very pleasant sound track. Love the French music. And, Richard, who had no friends at the beginning, makes friends all along the way. It’s actually quite philosophical in the way that the various characters explore their innermost thoughts. The ending has its own surprise that will bring a smile to your face.

The nighttime routine gets a little easier when “Bedtime With Elmo” debuts on DVD July 7 from Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization behind Sesame Street.  It’s bedtime on Sesame Street and like all little children, Elmo doesn’t want to go to sleep yet, he wants to play.  Elmo’s daddy and the Sesame Street gang explain why everyone needs sleep, even little monsters, and address timeless issues from learning to relax, falling asleep alone and being afraid of the dark.  Focusing on a core learning matter many parents struggle with, “Bedtime With Elmo” combines clever and familiar bedtime situations with engaging stories, lullabies and humor to illustrate to children just how important it is to get a good night’s sleep.  Featuring appearances from favorite Sesame Street characters including Abby Cadabby, Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, Zoe, Telly Monster, Rosita, Baby Bear and more, Bedtime With Elmo also features Andrea Bocelli singing “Time to Say Goodnight.”

Cartoons help make learning fun, even for kids who struggle with reading. Did you know that financier Charles Schwab was dyslexic and passed his literature classes by doing book reports based on comic-book versions of classic stories? Jim Davis, creator of the Garfield comic series, incorporated the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation SparkTop.org content with the Professor Garfield Foundation programming in 2007 to create a fun website where kids go to have fun and learn. The programs are designed specifically for children with learning and attention problems, although all kids benefit from the free edutainment.

“One of the unexpected joys of being in this line of work has been hearing from the parents of children who learned to read thanks to the Garfield comic strip,” said Davis. “After nearly 30 years of doing the strip, we’ve heard this often enough that we’re convinced the strip is a great teaching tool – the simple combination of words and pictures stimulates learning. That’s why we created the Professor Garfield Foundation and the Professor Garfield website. We all learn in different ways, or as SparkTop.org says, ‘No two brains spark alike.’ It’s very gratifying that the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation elected Garfield to carry on their vision. It’s a responsibility we take seriously. It will encourage us to redouble our efforts to help kids grow and learn.”

Infant developmental and children’s entertainment product company The Baby Prodigy Company™, recently announced the release of their brand new title “30 Minutes To A Quiet Baby.™” A must have for anyone trying to quiet a fussy child.

This new DVD brings back traditional character favorites Dookie™ and Dottie Duck™ while introducing some new animated friends — Katie the Kangaroo™, Emily the Elephant™, and Gisella the Giraffe™.  The DVD also includes animated nursery rhymes, entertaining characters, and stimulating games that parents can replicate at home with their children.  All with the ultimate goal of providing every parent and child with REST: Relaxation, Entertainment & Sensory stimulation for your Tot™.

Founded in 2002, by stay at home Mom turned entrepreneur Barbara Candiano-Marcus, Baby Prodigy® products were created while Candiano-Marcus was caring for her first born child, Samantha. She took some time out of her busy schedule to share a bit about this terrific new title and her company.

CP: Where did you get the idea for this type of DVD?

BC: I have wanted to produce a DVD like this for a long time.  I had two colicky babies and my inspiration to start Baby Prodigy originally came from my experiences with my colicky baby.  I also wanted to create a DVD that would be for BOTH parent and child. By providing R.E.S.T (Relaxation, Entertainment and Sensory stimulation for your Tot) parents can get some relaxation while their child is being stimulated with entertaining visuals, music, nursery rhymes and playful puppet scenes which show activities parents can replicate at home with their child.

CP: What, in your opinion, makes your DVD stand out from other titles for this genre/age group?

BC: There is no other DVD like it on the market that is for both the parent and their child.

CP: What is the most surprising feedback you have received from viewers?

BC: One of the most surprising things I was told from a viewer was that her five year old loved “30 Minutes to a Quiet Baby.”  When she first played the video for her baby, her 5 year old son watched it with her.  When the video was over, he wanted to watch it over and over again!

CP: What have you learned as a producer while making this DVD?

BC: It is very important that parents get REST when taking care of their children. This DVD can help moms and dads get some rest while their little one is entertained even if it’s just for 30 minutes.

CP: What is your next project we can look for?

BC: I am working on an entertainment and educational DVD for preschoolers.

CP: Is there anything you would like to add?

BC: This is a DVD the whole family can enjoy.

Look for “30 Minutes To A Quiet Baby™” on www.amazon.com or www.babyprodigy.com.

This Memorial Day, fans young and old across the nation can celebrate heroes with Super WHY! – Hurray for Heroes, a special two- hour marathon airing Monday May 25, 2009 on PBS KIDS® (check local listings).  Super WHY! – Hurray for Heroes will delight preschoolers with two debut interactive episodes and two returning favorites, featuring the page-turning storybook adventures of Super Why and his fellow reading superheroes as they unveil what the power of reading can do.  The special event also features never-before-seen live-action interviews in-between the episodes in which real kids share their thoughts about what it means to be a hero. 

The special Super WHY! – Hurray for Heroes TV event kicks off a jam-packed summer of reading-powered fun that also will feature special Super WHY! theme weeks, online games and free downloadable materials designed to help families reinforce the literacy skill building lessons within the series and help nurture their own “super readers” at home.        

“We created Super WHY! to provide kids with superhero role models they can relate to – who show them the power of reading and that they, too, can look for answers to life’s challenging questions and problems within books,” said Angela C. Santomero, Creator and Executive Producer of the series.  “Memorial Day provides a perfect opportunity for us all to reflect on and honor all kinds of heroes and we’re delighted to bring Hurray for Heroes to PBS KIDS.  The summer months are also the perfect time for preschoolers to hone their budding reading skills and we’re pleased to offer a number of great ways for them to do so all summer long.”

In the action-packed, two-hour Super WHY! – Hurray for Heroes TV event, Super Why and his heroic storybook friends help a fairytale knight face his fears in the launch of George and the Dragon, travel “over the river and through the woods” in Little Red Riding Hood, jump into a book for an interactive island adventure in the debut of The Swiss Family Robinson, and show a stranded princess how to rescue herself in Rapunzel.

Leading up to the on-air event, PBS KIDS will feature an all Super WHY! video player at pbskids.org/video where children can view their favorite clips from the show.  Kids can also play fun reading games on the Super WHY! Web site which will launch the new Wonder Red‘s Freeze Dance Rhyming Game (http://pbskids.org/superwhy).

The storybook adventures continue in June with the kick-off of a “super” special summer reading campaign that will engage kids and caregivers through Super WHY!’s interactive Web site at pbskids.org/superwhy, and through thousands of libraries across the U.S.  Throughout the season, week-long Super WHY! Reading Camps will boost the early literacy skills of preschoolers in communities from coast-to-coast with learning-rich activities, games, and music.   In August, PBS KIDS will focus on a different Super WHY! character each week and feature never-before-seen episodes of the top-rated show.

Reading is power and Super WHY!  is the only preschool property created to help kids learn the fundamentals of reading through interactive storybook adventures.  Produced by Out of the Blue Enterprises in conjunction with Canadian-based Decode Entertainment Inc. and C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures Inc., the series has a fresh, groundbreaking multimedia aesthetic – with a winning combination of two- and three-dimensional animation formats, adorable characters and immersive environments.  The program represents a unique approach to preschool educational television, featuring a team of superhero characters with literacy-based powers, who jump into books to look for answers to everyday preschool challenges.  The home viewer is the superhero sidekick, who is encouraged and empowered to participate in the reading fun by playing research-based literacy games.