Gimme a “Wilbur Wiggle:” it must be time to read a book!
I definitely agree that instilling interest in books early in a child’s life is critical. Of course, the irony is that there are several television shows on the air to promote this. While it is imperative that parents, caregivers, siblings, and so forth take the time to read one-one-one with their children, television shows can become “friends” that can teach children through storytelling. A parent telling a child to share doesn’t necessarily get the same response as a cheerful puppet peer.
To this end, I was happy to review the Discovery Kids Channel’s “Wilbur” through the Parent Bloggers Network. The show revolves around a calf named Wilbur who teaches his friends through reading books. His catch-phrase is “Books are Moo-velous” Wilbur is performed in shadowmation.
At the start of each episode, Wilbur’s puppet barnyard friends have a dilemma. Wilbur gets a little tickle, starts to wiggle, and exclaims “Moo! Moo! Moo! What should we do?” His friends respond, “Moo! Moo! Moo! Read a book with you!”
The book is in cartoon form. Each picture becomes animated during the story. Sometimes the words to the book are visible, and other times the “page” turns rapidly such that the words are only suggested. I would have liked to have the words visible at all times so that it would have the “appearance” of a real book to help with print recognition.
Wilbur narrates the first run for his puppet friends, and then real kids put the story into their own words for reinforcement. Upon the retelling, the puppets realize moral of the story, and the episode’s dilemma is solved. Finally, a series of short live-action interviews with real kids tackles the episode’s featured subject, bringing it into “the real world” in a relatable way to its viewers.
The episodes that I reviewed were from vastly different subjects: from shapes to history to manners, just as books cover a myriad of topics.
The Cat (first grade) enjoyed Wilbur, although it is aimed at children in preschool. Spliggle (age 3) is the perfect target and was captivated. He asked to see the show again and again and again. He can recognize a cow, but because of all the talk of “Moo-ving” and “Moo-velous” and such, he started calling Wilbur a “Moo-se.” I am sure his grandparents in Maine will appreciate that.
He kept saying, “I wanna watch read-a-book!” He was able to follow along with the story and repeated several lines from the book and the little jingles. His favorite character is Dasha the 4 year old duck, who like him, is outgoing, daring, and a bit “too” independent at times!
Wilbur’s songs are catchy, the cast is cute, and the concepts are good ones. Check out the Discovery Kids Channel and TLC to see when Wilbur airs in your area.
