Tot TV Watch

VeggieTales An Easter Carol has been on DVD for years, but tomorrow is its first time on television with its premiere on Gospel Music Channel. Not sure about cable companies that carry this channel, but I get it with my mid level DirectTV package of channels. For DirectTV customers the channel is 338. They are showing it April 10, 2009 at 7pm Eastern Time and 8pm Eastern Time, April 11, 2009 at 9am Eastern Time and 4pm Eastern Time, and April 12, 2009 at 1pm Eastern Time. If you have not seen it, then catch it first on television. If your kids enjoy it at all, then you may want to consider the DVD, which has tons of fun bonus features.

Charles Dicken’s classic Christmas Carol story gets what I think is its most creative and wackiest parody ever in VeggieTales An Easter Carol. I am a big VeggieTales fan despite not being pretty much not religious. It just is such a funny and entertaining series that at the same time always teaches important lessons in a way that kids can understand. The Easter Carol one is definitely one of the very Christian ones in the series because in the end it teaches the real meaning of Easter. Thus I would not really recommend this for non-Christians as much as some of the less Christian specific ones in the series.

I am not saying if you are not Christian you cannot enjoy this or that you should avoid it because it teaches a very Christian centric story, but just that be prepared for the kids to be confused and have questions if they are not at all familiar with Jesus and Christianity. In fact it can be used well to teach kids about Christianity without saying that they have to believe in Christian beliefs, At least that is how I see the series. I always have seen it in that it only pushes morals while mentioning Christian beliefs, but it does not feel like it is trying to convert you if you are not Christian or very faithful.

Tomorrow, February 14, 2009, there is a special Valentine’s and Friends themed line up on Playhouse Disney starting at 6am Eastern/5am Central. The line up includes Valentines or just friend themed episodes of Playhouse Disney shows including a new episode of My Friends Tigger & Pooh. Below is the full line up.

6am Eastern/5am Central - Higglytown Heroes‘ “A Valentine for Miss Fern/The Totally Secret Valentine” episode about the Electrician asking the kids to help plan a Valentine’s surprise for Miss Fern and someone sending everyone secret Valentine’s cards and the detective looking for his secret admirer

6:30am Eastern/5:30 Central - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “A Surprise for Minnie” episode about helping Mickey make a Valentine’s gift for Minnie

7am Eastern/6am Central - My Friends Tigger & Pooh’s “How to Say I Love Roo/Piglet’s Small Predicament” episode about it being “I Love You Day” in the Hundred Acre Wood and Roo forgetting to make cards and wants a special gift for his mom. The second part is about Pooh’s honey pots disappearing with the first disappearing right out from under Piglet.

7:30am Eastern/6:30 Central - Little Einsteins‘ “Annie’s Love Song” episode about them helping two best friend hermit crabs reunite

8am Eastern/7am Central - My Friends TIgger & Pooh’s “It’s Eeyore’s Birthday/The Tiglet and Pigger Switcher-Roo” new episode about it being Eeyore’s birthday and Tigger and Piglet having a personality switch via Roo magic

8:30am Eastern/7:30am Central - Handy Manny’s “Valentine’s Day/Mr. Lopart Moves In” episode about them making a robot as a Valentine’s present and Mr. Lopart’s store flooding and him moving his stuff into Manny’s repair shop

9am Eastern/8am Central - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “A Surprise for Minnie” episode

9:30am Eastern/8:30am Central - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “Donald’s Special Delivery” episode about them trying to make Donald feel better when he is the only one that does not get mail

10am Eastern/9am Central - Imagination Movers’s “No Noise is Good Noise” episode about the movers investigating where a noise is coming from

10:30am Eastern/9:30am Central - Handy Manny’s “Valentine’s Day/Mr. Lopart Moves In”

Do not forget to comment and get an entry in our February Comment Contest and have a chance to win a TV on DVD.

Recently I was in the Valentine’s section at Walgreens and notice almost all of the Valentines were geared towards TV shows this year. I know they often are TV show character related, but often there are some more movie and general stuff like cats and cars. This year, however, the selection at least at this Walgreens was pretty much exclusively kids television character Valentines. A lot of them were from Nickelodeon shows, but there were also some from Disney shows. Below are some of the ones I saw and took photos of with my phone.

This Nick Jr set of Valentines has Valentines with characters from Nick Jr shows including Go, Diego, Go!, The Wonder Pets, The Backyardigans, Dora the Explorer, and Blue’s Clues.

These are Glitter Valentines featuring characters from the Dora the Explorer show on Nick Jr.

These are dazzling embossed Valentines featuring characters from the Spongebob Squarepants Nickelodeon show.

These are Valentines featuring the more classic looking Strawberry Shortcake rather than the newer one that airs on CBS.

These Valentines feature the characters from the Yo Gabba Gabba Nick Jr. show.

These Valentines with stickers feature characters from The Wonder Pets Nick Jr. show.

These Valentines with stickers feature characters from the new style of Care Bears, which airs on CBS on the weekends in most areas.

These Valentines include the characters from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show on Playhouse Disney.

Do not forget to comment and get an entry in our February Comment Contest and have a chance to win a TV on DVD.

The How the Grinch Stole Christmas version I am reviewing is the classic cartoon television special that originally aired in 1966. The specific DVD release is the original Dr. Seuss - How the Grinch Stole Christmas/Horton Hears a Who combo release. Since this release there has been a 50th anniversary of the book release, but supposedly it does not have all the special features, thus this older version is better in my opinion. However, the newer version is supposed to be remastered to the point that the Grinch is actually green.

This classic cartoon has animation very similar to how the book it is based on looks. The flashy newer big screen production version may be appealing to some, but personally I think this classic version is far superior in overall entertainment value. The story is not exactly a joy filled Christmas story like so many Christmas stories these days for kids, but it has funny moments throughout and ends up teaching that Christmas is not just about things.

Overall I recommend this DVD as worth buying because even though you can usually find this on television during December this DVD is worth it for the special features. The special features include Trivia, Pencil Tests, Who’s Who in Whoville, Song Selections, Commentary version of the cartoon, TNT’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas Special Edition, and Songs in the Key of Grinch Interview. Plus, it has the classic cartoon version of Horton Hears a Who, which is a good story all year round, and also has two special features (not very good ones, though).

Check out the other Kids TV on DVD reviews I have blogged about here.

With the Presidential Elections coming up it is a very appropriate time for there to be an Election themed episode of WordGirl. I had the honor of previewing this episode and below is a brief recap of it. Overall I found it do a good job of teaching the key words, especially the election words in a context that kids can more easily relate to.

The first part of the episode is called “A Vote for Becky” and the key words are “candidate” and “elect.” In this part Becky’s mom is running for reelection as District Attorney and Becky running for class president against Tobey, one of her enemies. The campaigning between Becky and Tobey turns into Tobey being unfair and stealing her ideas and using them as his own. Becky tries to stay on the fair path and use WordGirl as a celebrity backer of her and Tobey distracts her from campaigning for herself by sending his robots to create trouble. So, will good or evil win the election?

The second part is called “Class Act” and this part’s key words are “ramble” and “articulate.” In this part Butcher is tired of having problems with choosing the right words, which is making it hard for him to successfully commit crimes. He enrolls in an adult education class, which helps him improve his crime committing and causes WordGirl problems as she tries to prepare for a speech she is giving to a class. As she prepares her speech WordGirl discovers she rambles and leads to a final battle with the Butcher.

Tune in to your local PBS station on November 4, 2008, to watch the premiere of this episode.

In honor of Halloween coming up this Friday, Toon Disney is showing some Halloween themed movies every night at 5pm and 8pm. There is a different movie for each night with two showings of it. The week is called Howl & Shriek Movie Week, as these are more on the scary side. See below for the five movies.

Monday, October 27, 2008 - The Haunted Mansion: This is a movie based on the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland and other Disney parks. It is definitely one of the more scary Disney movies out there, but for the most part it is not too scary for kids about ages 5 or 6. In the movie a family ends up trying to break a curse on a house and save their mom.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 - Phantom of the Megaplex: I have not seen this movie in a while, but I remember it being a good play on the Phantom of the Opera classic story with the story inside taking place in a movie theater.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 - The Scream Team: This is a Disney Channel Original Movie about two kids trying to save their grandfather’s soul in order for him to move onto the afterlife.

Thursday, October 30, 2008 - Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman: In this movie Alvin thinks that their is a werewolf next door and soon discovers that it is true when Theodore becomes one, too. Alvin and Simon then work together to try and save Theodore from life as a werewolf.

Friday, October 31, 2008 - Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein: This time Alvin and the Chipmunks meet a Frankenstein monster. He turns out to be quite friendly and actually this one is not too scary like some of the other movies part of this week.

This weekend (October 25th and 26th) Playhouse Disney’s line up is has the special theme of Halloween. This means most of the episodes are Halloween themed, although a few of them are quite a stretch. See below for the complete line up for both days.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

6am Eastern/5am Central - The Doodlebops’s “Very Scary” episode
6:30am Eastern/5:30am Central - Bunnytown’s “Bunnytown Fun” episode
7am Eastern/6am Central - The Wiggles’s “Wiggly Mystery” episode
7:30am Eastern/6:30am Central - Johnny and the Sprites’s “Root and the Tickle Troll/Ginger Goes for the Glory” episode
8am Eastern/7am Central - Little Einsteins’s “Little Einsteins Halloween” episode
8:30am Eastern/7:30am Central - My Friends Tigger & Pooh’s “Tigger Goes for the Jagular/Rabbit’s New Roomie” episode
8:55am Eastern/7:55am Central - Happy Monster band’s “At the Rodeo” episode
9am Eastern/8am Central - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “Mickey’s Treat” episode
9:30am Eastern/8:30am Central - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “Goofy Baby” episode
10am Eastern/9am Central - Imagination Movers’s “Big Pumpkin Problem” episode
10:30am Eastern/9:30am Central - Handy Manny’s “Halloween/Haunted Clock Tower” episode
11am Eastern/10am Central - Higglytown Heroes’s “Higgly Halloween” episode
11:30am Eastern/10:30am Central - Charlie and Lola’s “Halloween/Charlie’s Best Friend” episode

Sunday, October 26, 2008

6am Eastern/5am Central - The Doodlebops’s “Abracadeedee” episode
6:30am Eastern/5:30am Central - JoJo’s Circus’s “The Legend of Clownfoot” episode
7am Eastern/6am Central - The Wiggles’s “Greg’s Music Show” episode
7:30am Eastern/6:30am Central - Johnny and the Sprites’s “The Bridge Troll/This is Your Life, Johnny” episode
8am Eastern/7am Central - Little Einsteins’s “Little Einsteins Halloween” episode
8:30am Eastern/7:30am Central - My Friends Tigger & Pooh’s “Darby Goes Woozle Sleuthin’/How the Tigger Lost His Stripe” episode
8:55am Eastern/7:55am Central - Happy Monster band’s “The Italian Way” episode
9am Eastern/8am Central - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “Minnie Red Riding Hood” episode
9:30am Eastern/8:30am Central - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “Mickey’s Treat” episode
10am Eastern/9am Central - Imagination Movers’s “Hiccups” episode
10:30am Eastern/9:30am Central - Handy Manny’s “Halloween/Haunted Clock Tower” episode
11am Eastern/10am Central - Higglytown Heroes’s “Higgly Halloween” episode
11:30am Eastern/10:30am Central - Charlie and Lola’s “Halloween/Charlie’s Best Friend” episode

Earlier this month WordWorld’s Halloween themed episode calle “A Kooky Spooky Halloween/Sheep’s Halloween Costume” premiered on PBS. I recorded it and just recently got around to watching it.

The first part “A Kooky Spooky Halloween” is about Pig trying to finish the bags of treats the night before Halloween. He just needs the Bs to finish them and is convinced to go to bed by Ant and finish them in the morning. Pig is troubled by not having the Bs and ended up sleepwalking. As he sleepwalks he takes the Bs from different word items in WordWorld. He also ends up scaring some of the WordWorld friends because he sleepwalks with a bed sheet on and ends up looking like a ghost.

The second part “Sheep’s Halloween Costume” is about Sheep helping the other WordWorld friends get ready for Halloween by giving them the last thing they need for their costume. He then ends up without a costume because he gave all the pieces to his friends. In the end his friends return the favor and help him recreate his costume.

Overall this is a fun Halloween episode that includes a very minimally creepy Halloween first part and a very friendly second part. I found it to be a pretty good episode and it is great that both parts are Halloween themed, as it seems that sometimes shows with two parts only have one part themed by the holiday.

If you missed it the few times it has already played this month, then do not worry. You can still catch it Monday, October 27, 2008, and Friday, October 31, 2008, on most PBS channels. Check your local television listings to find out what exact time the episode may be on in your area.

This week the Halloween themed episode of Super Why premiered on PBS. In this episode Pig is too scared to go trick or treating. The Super Readers enter the story “The Ghost Who Was Afraid of Halloween” to help Pig discover that Halloween is not always scary. In the story their is a ghost that is scared of Halloween like Pig.

The educational reading aspects of this particular Super Why show include learning to spell the word pumpkin to help make the pumpkins reappear after the ghost makes them disappear because he is scared of them. Basically everytime the ghost is scared of something he says something that makes the thing he is scared of disappear. Then the viewers supposedly help the Super Readers spell the thing that disappeared, such as a witch, and make the thing reappear.

Overall the show is a fun Halloween themed one. It is great for preschoolers, which the show is geared towards, as it is not scary at all. It portrays the scary things in a way that shows them as being friendly and the things that scary the ghost end up being explained in a friendly way. This includes a witch making odd noises proving to be a friendly witch even though she uses a scary witch laugh. In the end the Super Readers teach the ghost that Halloween is not scary because the things are make believe.

If you kids like Super Why and you missed the Halloween episode in its premiere, then you can catch it again the next two Mondays on most PBS stations. Check your local listings to make sure it is showing and to find out the exact time for your station.

Since tomorrow is Independence day here in the US, I’m going to post this a little early so I can enjoy spending the day with my family. One of the best ways to get TV loving kids interested in United States history is by watching Schoolhouse Rocks clips. They may not give all the facts, but it is an entertaining way to get them thinking and introduce them to a little of our country’s history. In honor of the holiday, I thought I would post Schoolhouse Rocks “Fireworks” for your viewing pleasure.

4th of July, Independence Day, Schoolhouse Rocks, Fireworks, United States, history

Sunday, June 17th, is the day that we all stop to celebrate the great things that dads do for us.  While we appreciate dads year-round, Father’s Day is a special day to let them know just how thankful we are for all the things they do.  So what is the best way to help Dad relax on his special day?  Keep the kids busy of course!  Noggin will help out with the entertainment by offering up some great episodes featuring dads, including a brand new episode of Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends.

Celebrate Father’s Day with your kids by watching a couple shows together and then discussing the importance of family and dad’s special day.  Just don’t forget to remind the kids how special they are too!

Following is Father’s Day marathon schedule (all times Eastern):

8:00 a.m. & 10:00 a.m. - Dora the Explorer - “Boots’ Special Day”
Today, Boots gets to do anything he wants, because it’s his special day! Un dia especial. Boots most favorite thing in the whole world is to visit his daddy at work. To get there, Boots chooses a journey that includes all the special things he loves to do, like leading a Big Drum Parade and visiting Diego’s Animal Center. By the time Boots gets a big
hug from his daddy, he will have had the best day ever!

8:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. - Go, Diego, Go! - “Three Little Condors”
Diego and Alicia have found a Mommy and Daddy Condor for three little condors at the Animal Rescue Center. But condors don’t fly at night so they must hurry and find their new Mommy and Daddy before the sun goes down! Diego and Alicia head out with the three little baby condors. Along the way, they have to get past the Bobo Brothers and find a
golden butterfly that will lead them up to Condor Cliff. But we better hurry. The sun is going down!

1:30 p.m. - Pinky Dinky Doo - “Daddy’s Special Shirt”
SET UP: Tyler is frustrated because he’s having trouble making a paper
airplane. TALL TALE: Pinky has to pick up Daddy’s special shirt at the Laundromat in time for his important trip. But the washer is broken so Pinky and Mr. GP must do the washing themselves. The shirt comes out extra stiff and starchy the way Daddy Dinky Doo likes it. On their way home, Pinky and Mr. GP get lifted off the ground by a gust of wind that turns the stiff shirt into a glider and plops them back down in front of their building. But Daddy has already left for his trip! BIG IDEA: Pinky and Mr. GP ride the shirt like a glider all the way to Daddy’s appointment and deliver the shirt just before his meeting begins.

2:30 p.m. - Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends - “A Party for Pops”
Every year Miss Spider and the bug kids have a special “Thank-you, Dad” day for Holley. They send him out to do chores while they make him presents and treats for a surprise party that may no longer a surprise - but it’s a fun family tradition. However, when new poppa Spiderus finds out about it, he’s envious. He wants a special day, too. But he’s disappointed that Spindella and the buggy triplets don’t seem at all interested in “surprising” him with a party. So he decides to throw his own party and cajoles Holley into being his only other guest. After some un-fun festivities, Holley invites Spiderus back to the Cozy Hole to share his party, only to discover that Miss Spider and his buggy brood aren’t there. Now Holley’s disappointed - until the two dads find their families at Le Beestro with gifts and treats and hugs. Miss Spider and Spindella have pulled off the best surprise party ever!

5:00 p.m. - Franklin - “Franklin’s Father”
Franklin has a string of misadventures at the train station while waiting for his mom to return from a weekend trip. When Mr. Mole happens by, Franklin hears that his father’s childhood was full of mishaps too.

5:30 p.m. - Little Bear - “Father’s Day”
Little Bear and Father Bear are going fishing on Father’s Day - just the two of them. But then Hen joins them, and then Owl joins them, followed by Duck…and Cat! Two fishermen quickly turn into six, and everyone has a great time.

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May 13th is quickly approaching and mothers everywhere will be celebrating one of their most important roles in life. If you are still searching for a gift, you can check out the great lists here, here, or here. However, sometimes the best gift for Mom is letting her have some quiet time to relax. I suggest bringing her breakfast in bed (along with hand-made cards from the kids), then whisking the kids away for a while so that Mom can have some quiet time to read a book, peruse her favorite blogs, or just take a nice hot bath without any interruptions. If you need a way to entertain the tots while Mom is relaxing, you can always keep them busy with some of these Mother’s Day specials, new episodes, and activities:

• Dora the Explorer’s Mother’s Day Marathon will be airing on Nick Jr. Friday, May 11th, from 12:00-2:00p.m ET/PT, but you can always record it to a VCR, DVR, or TiVo and save it for the big day.
• Noggin will be celebrating by airing an all-day Mother’s Day marathon on Sunday, featuring an all new episode of Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends. The marathon will run from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET.
• Playhouse Disney will be airing new episodes of My Friends Tigger and Pooh at 10:00/9:00c and Handy Manny at 10:30/9:30c on May 13th. The Handy Manny episode will feature special guest Marion Ross as Mr. Lopart’s mother. Kids can also find some great Mother’s Day craft ideas on the Playhouse Disney web site.
• The PBSParents web site also has some great craft ideas and activities, as well as Mother’s Day breakfast recipes that are definitely worth checking out.

If those don’t interest your kids (but I’m sure they will) you can always watch their regularly scheduled favorite shows. Of course, you could just take the kids out to the park for a couple of hours. I’m sure when you return, Mom will be ready for some snuggly family time.

If you have any other great Mother’s Day tips you want to share, please leave them in the comments section below.

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Saturday, May 5th, is “Cinco de Mayo“, a day that Mexicans celebrate freedom and liberty. To help preschoolers celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Noggin is having a fiesta. Tune in to Noggin Saturday morning beginning at 8:00 a.m. Central to join in on the party. Dora, Diego, Blue, and all of the rest of your kids’ favorite Noggin pals will be there.

Cinco de Mayo, Noggin, Fiesta, party, Dora, Diego, Blue

Easter is coming up this weekend, so what better time is there to talk about two young bunnies?  The two bunnies I’m speaking of are Max and Ruby, a pair of siblings who are constantly at odds with each other.

Max is a 3-year-old bunny who, as most toddlers do, wants to get his way.  Whether it is playing with his trucks or putting bugs in a birthday cake, he wants what he wants when he wants it.  He is always trying to get his big sister Ruby to bend the rules just a little bit and often ends up getting in trouble.

Ruby is Max’s somewhat bossy 7-year-old sister who always seems to be in charge.  She tries to be responsible and keep Max in line, but sometimes it seems she has her own agenda.  Ruby is often frustrated by Max’s childish ways and that tends to result in quite a bit of sibling conflict.

Max and Ruby generally end up compromising and ending things on a good note.  Throughout their conflicts, they still manage to show each other a little bit of love and respect. Sometimes they even seem to enjoy each other’s company.

The draw of this show is that it shows sibling relationships in their truest form.  You could walk into any house containing 3 and 7-year-old siblings and see the same type of interactions.  However, you would also most likely see at least one parent breaking up the arguments, which seems to be missing from this show.  In fact Max and Ruby’s parents never have appeared on any episodes I have seen, although their grandmother is a regular fixture.

Max and Ruby was created by author/illustrator Rosemary Wells and is based on her Max and Ruby books.  It began airing as an animated series in 2002. 

You can see Max and Ruby on both Nick Jr. and Noggin.  Max and Ruby’s Easter Special will air on Nick Jr. Friday, April 6th, at 1:30 p.m. ET/PT. Brand new episodes will be shown the week of April 9-13 on Nick Jr. to jump start the new season.

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Valentine’s Day is only a week away and even though some adults may not be fond of the holiday, the kids will be filled with excitement. I remember decorating an empty shoe box, cutting a hole in the top, and anticipating the collection of cards and candy that would soon fill it up. There was nothing more exciting than watching that “special” boy or girl drop a card in your Valentine’s Day box and hoping that there was something even more special written on it. Those days are only memories now, but I can still enjoy Valentine’s Day with my little Valentine at home. And how will we be celebrating? By watching a few Valentine’s specials on TV of course!

PBS Kids will be running “Clifford’s Valentine’s Day Special: Love at First Bark”. You can also check out Arthur’s “Flea to Be You and Me” and “Kiss and Tell”, Cyberchase’s “Hugs & Witches”, and Maya & Miguel’s “Cupid” on PBS Kids Go!.

Nick Jr. will be airing three brand new Valentine’s Day episodes including “Sammy’s Valentine” on Go, Diego, Go!, “Special Delivery” on the Backyardigans, and “Mr. Valentine” on Wow! Wow! Wubzy!. There are also lots of fun Valentine’s activities and printables on the Nick Jr. web site.

If that doesn’t give you enough options, Playhouse Disney is celebrating the “Big Day of Hearts” by running Valentine’s Day specials of Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jojo’s Circus, and Higglytown Heroes.

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