WordWorld: The Land of Early Reading

WTTW and PBS Kids have brought another fine educational show to the air. WordWorld is a computer-animated television series, which promotes literacy for small children who are just beginning to develop reading skills.

WordWorld is an innovative series, because it presents words in an entirely new way. Most shows for early readers present words on the screen next to puppets, cartoon characters, costumed people, etc. This approach is okay, but the on-screen characters tend to distract children. Most children will tend to focus on the talking characters and pay little attention to the words on the screen. The problem is that, children will not even look at the screen unless there is something entertaining to see. The reality is that the characters have to be present to hold the children’s interest.

WordWorld offers a creative solution to this dilemma. In WordWorld, the animated characters, WordFriends, are made of words. For example, the letters D, O, and G form the dog’s body, and the letters P, I, and G form the pig’s body. Going a step further, WordWorld is filled with WordThings. WordThings are objects made from letters. For example, the letters B, A, R, and N form a barn. This is a wonderful approach, because the show can hold the interest of children with characters while simultaneously getting children to look directly at words. Since the characters are made out of words, the children wind up focusing on actual words, which just so happen to form the named objects.

WordWorld is true to its name. WordWorld is a world composed of words and a wonder place for children to begin learning about words. The imaginative producers of this brilliant show should be commended for how they have permanently raised the bar for educational television.

Learn to Read Between the Lions

Between the Lions is a show formatted in the tradition of Sesame Street; however, the target audience is a little older. Between the Lions picks up where Sesame Street leaves off. While Sesame Street concentrates on letters and numbers, Between the Lions focuses on learning to read.

Between the Lions, centers around a pride of lions who inhabit a library and share a love of reading. Each episode contains a variety of cartoons, skits, and songs performed by puppets and animated characters. Theo, Cleo, Lionel, Leona, Arty Smartypants, Martha Reader, Cliff Hanger, et al. each use their methods to make reading simple for youngsters. Celebrities such as Bruno Kirby and Elmo often drop in for guest appearances.

The weakness of Between the Lions is that the show reruns episodes with tremendous frequency; however, the episodes are of great quality and make reading easy and fun.