Books, Music and TV for Preschoolers
Most content made for preschoolers is awful. Harsh? Maybe, but when your little monster wants to read a book, listen to a song, or watch a show on repeat, you have plenty of opportunity to notice. As a parent, finding a gem that’s rich, well-crafted and can make you laugh (even on repeat) can make your day. And week. And Month.
Since my son Owen was born a year and a half ago, only a handful of great books and tv shows plus a CD or two have become things we love and come back to again and again. So, without further ado, a few of my (and Owen’s) favourite preschool things.
TV Shows
Sid The Science Kid
What I love about this show: The characters have lots of depth and the voice actors do a great job of bringing them to life. The humour and attention to detail make it genuinely enjoyable to watch, the science is fun and accessible and finds the fine line between educational content and something kids would actually choose to watch.
Where to find it:The show airs on TVO (in Ontario) and on PBS Kids in the US. It’s also available on DVD from Amazon.
Word World
What I love about this show: The character designs are brilliant – seriously, how do they make everything out of letters?! Learning about words and reading is worked into the plot in a really, really clever way – in my favourite episode, everyone’s afraid of a Shark, except Duck, because he mis-pronounces it as Sa-Hark.
Where to find it: The show airs on TVO (in Ontario) and on PBS Kids in the US. It’s also available on DVD from Amazon.
Pocoyo
What I love about this show: The simple character designs and plain white backdrop let you focus on the wonderfully detailed movement and sound – every nod, jump and step has a sound that helps tell the story – which is great for kids who haven’t got words yet. Also, I wish Stephen Fry (the show’s narrator) would read me bedtime stories and this is as close as I’ll ever get.
Where to find it: Pocoyo airs on Treehouse (in Canada) and is available on DVD from Amazon.
Kids’ CBC Friends
What I love about this show: It’s Canadian content that isn’t lame! Mama Yamma’s kitchen in Kensington Market feels a bit like the best parts of Sesame Street, the characters are well-written and funny (my personal favourite is the Breakfast Froog’s non-sequitur ribbit) and the hosts aren’t over the top. The Youtube video above really doesn’t do the show justice – Kids’ CBC, get with the times and make your content easy to find, embed and link to!
Where to find it: Kids’ CBC Friends isn’t a show, per-se, but short segments that get played between shows (instead of commercials). Kids’ CBC Friends airs on CBC in Canada (there’s more info on the Kids’ CBC website).
Music
The only music that’s become a staple in our house is Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies for the Film Curious George by Jack Johnson. The album has a good mix of accoustic songs and fun bluesy stuff (like the adaptation of Three Is A Magic Number about the three R’s). The lyrics are geared towards kids without being eye-gougingly repetitive, so listening on repeat is no problem.
Books
The Amazing Machines Truckload of Fun
by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker
What I love about these books: The words-to-pictures ratio is just about perfect – one or two short sentences per page – which means you can read everything before flipping the page! The text on each page reads like a poem and is fun to read just for the rhythm and the way it rolls off your tongue. If I had to pick just one, I’d have to go with Dazzling Diggers.
Haiku Baby
by Betsy E. Snyder
What I love about this book: The beautiful illustrations and pretty little poems are fun to read over and over. Hands down our most-read book.
Yes Yes! A Box of Board Books
by Leslie Patricelli
What I love about these books: The text on each page is so simple, it means you get to make up a story to go along with the illustration (umm… no, no hitting other kids with hammers?). Simple illustrations on plain backgrounds keep the distractions to a minimum. It’s a toss-up between No No, Yes Yes and Yummuy Yucky for which one gets read the most.
August 10th, 2009 at 11:06 am
i’m with you on WordWorld and especially Pocoyo. Sid, though? i’m a HUGE Henson fan, but the digital mocap puppetry hits the uncanny valley for me. They use the same technique in Frances, and i find it unsettling.
August 18th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Yeah, the motion-capture sometimes works (the dance sequence when Sid gets to school) but often feels a bit weird. Overall though, the rest of the creative for the show (writing, music, voice-acting) is great and makes up for it (IMHO).