KIDS FIRST! News

In celebration of the Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Discovery Kids presents a special encore episode of its “Wilbur” preschool series that will help even the youngest viewers appreciate this important anniversary and the miracle of modern flight, while reinforcing positive messages about optimism, persistence and resilience. Wibur’s “The Wright Stuff/The Broken Toy” episode makes an encore presentation on the Discovery Kids Channel on Thursday, December 17 at 11 AM (ET) as part of the network’s award-winning, commercial-free READY SET LEARN! block of preschool programming. WILBUR also airs at 7:30 AM (ET/PT) on TLC.

The special episode features two flight-related stories about Wilbur the calf and his barnyard friends: Dasha, an inquisitive duck; Ray, a flashy and opinionated rooster; and Libby, a sweet two-year-old lamb. In “The Wright Stuff” Wilbur wants to know what it feels like to fly. Dasha tries to teach him but nothing works. A storybook about the Wright Brothers inspires Wilbur to keep trying. In “The Broken Toy” Ray has built a beautiful model airplane which Dasha accidentally breaks. Wilbur helps Dasha overcome her fear that Ray will be mad and reads her a book that demonstrates why it is always best to tell the truth and say you’re sorry.

“Wilbur” was conceived by Jill Luedtke, Kim Anton and Tracey Hornbuckle, three moms from San Diego, who saw a need to enhance early literacy skills among young children. The moms were inspired by a visit to a Utah farm where they met an adorable little calf named “Wilbur.” They wanted to help lay a foundation for reading and felt that a barnyard with charming animal characters was the perfect setting.

In each episode, Wilbur and his barnyard buddies find themselves in a new situation or dilemma. Wilbur knows that books are full of ideas and that they can help his friends solve the problem. Wilbur then takes kids through the process of reading an actual storybook and shows that books are read from top to bottom, left to right and turn the page to continue the story.

“Wilbur” is a production of Mercury Filmworks, in association with Chilco Productions, EKA Distribution, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Discovery Kids. For Discovery Kids, Erin Wanner and Amy Sprecher, who brought “Wilbur” into the network, are executive producers.

READY SET LEARN! is an award-winning, commercial-free programming block with a curriculum that acknowledges preschoolers’ innate curiosity and is designed to foster optimism and resilience in their expanding exploration of the world. It airs on both the Discovery Kids Channel and TLC. Discovery Kids Channel lets kids of all ages (from preschoolers to tweens and teens) explore their world from their point of view. This 24-hour digital cable channel provides entertaining, engaging, and high-quality real-world programming that kids enjoy and parents trust. Every day, kids can learn about science, adventure, exploration and natural history through documentaries, reality shows, scripted dramas and animated stories. Garnering multiple Emmys as well as awards for quality children’s television, Discovery Kids is committed to satisfying kids’ natural curiosity about… well… everything.

TripFLIX’s mission is to engage kids and families to embrace the adventure of family travel using DVD, podcasting, blogging, and through online interactive experiences.

CYBERCHASE^sm gets into the holiday spirit of giving on PBS KIDS GO!^sm with a heartwarming all-new episode, “When Penguins Fly,” premiering today, Wednesday, December 12, with repeats on Friday, December 21 and Wednesday, December 25 (check local listings).Penguins can’t fly – or can they? In Cyberspace, on one special night each year, the penguins of Penguia take flight to deliver gifts to young borgs across the virtual universe. For the first time ever, the CyberSquad’s friend Fluff is participating, and invites his pals Matt, Jackie, Inez and Digit to join him in the impressive Penguin March. They head to the Ice Palace, where the gifts are made and where magic snowflakes are sprinkled on the penguins so they can fly. But Hacker, up to his usual ruinous tricks, doesn’t want a happy holiday (let alone happy little borgs) so he creates a giant ditch in front of the Ice Palace and traps all the penguins in its icy depths! The CyberSquad must get the penguins ice-shoes so they can climb out before midnight, but how many do they need? With too many to count, the answer lies in the kids’ ability to sample the penguin population to make a close estimate. Can the CyberSquad save the penguins and their favorite holiday too??

A destination for families and kids alike with Storybooksondvd.com!

Looking for the best in children’s entertainment online? Look no further than Storybooksondvd.com, the newly launched home of Scholastic Storybook Treasures™, the #1 award-winning line of kids entertainment in the DVD marketplace. Just in time for the 2007 holiday season, it’s a one-stop shop offering the acclaimed line of DVDs from Scholastic Storybook Treasures ™ – a line featuring hundreds of classic, award-winning animated adaptations from legendary production house, Weston Woods.

Aside from e-commerce, the site also offers families a destination filled with information and activities. For parents, the easily navigable, community-oriented site features resources such as author/illustrator interviews, parent product reviews, video clips, and easily searchable product categories such as “Stories for Learning” and “Classic Fairytales” among others. For kids, there’s a cornucopia of free, printable coloring sheets, featuring loveable line art starring some of kidlit’s biggest stars like “Curious George,” “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” “Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel” and “Harry the Dirty Dog.” Seeking to create a community of parents invested in giving their preschool and early elementary school children quality programming, Storyvooksondvd.com is a way to both lead your children to books and make reading and learning fun!

The new Scholastic Storybook Treasures ™ line (formerly the Scholastic Video Collection) now offers more digitally-enhanced content than ever – featuring at least an hour of stories on each DVD release, and all value-priced at $14.95SRP. Aside from an enhanced read-along function which highlights the words as they are read, new, kid-friendly features include redesigned authoring for easy navigation and eye-popping packaging. Recent releases include “Knuffle Bunny….and More Great Childhood Adventure Stories” and “Antartic Antics…And More Hilarious Animal Stories.”

Rock ‘N Learn, Inc. began in 1986 as an idea that would help children learn by putting educational material to music with a current sound-the kind of music that kids genuinely enjoy and find motivating. Now, with over 50 products, Rock ‘N Learn leads the “edutainment” industry and has sold millions of audio/book and video programs to teachers and parents throughout the United States, Canada, and other countries. Rock ‘N Learn products are available through teacher supply stores, by visiting www.rocknlearn.com or by calling 800-348-8445.