If you squint a little, the sloth who's the star of "It's a Big Big World" resembles a certain "Bear in the Big Blue House." He has that same gentle, slow-moving shuffle, too, and a limited world which he shares with friends. Bear had Luna the moon, Shadow, Tutter the mouse, playful otters Pip and Pop, and Ojo the bear cub; Snook the Sloth has a pair of playful marmosets named Smooch and Winslow, a howler monkey named Oko, Wartz the tree frog, Ick the Amazon catfish, Madge the wise old map turtle, and Bob, a South American anteater. There are more similarities, but you'd expect that when the creator of "Bear in the Big Blue House" is also behind this newest PBS show for very young children.
"Bear in the Big Blue House" focused mostly on early childhood development cognitive and motor skills, walking toddlers through episodes that helped them learn colors, shapes, counting, and basic social skills like controlling emotions, sharing, turn-taking, and even potty training. This new series seems intent on developing the little ones' awareness of themselves as being connected to nature and to others in the world. Call it "It Takes a Village" meets "The Lion King," but instead of the veldt and tree of life there's the Amazon rainforest and the World Tree where Snook lives with all his friends. The emphasis is on tolerance, understanding, and getting along--lessons that a few of our politicians could have used during their early childhood development.
Cartoon Network and even Disney shows tend to speed the world up for youngsters; in the classic tradition of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," these shows from Mitchell Kriegman slow the world down. In "It's a Big Big World," which just finished its first season, everyone speaks with a calm voice. And except for the monkey and marmosets, everyone moves and speaks at a Mister Rogers-style pace. The show has a sweet and gentle tone, with a song at the beginning and end and two stories in the middle. The DVDs group five of the stories together thematically, though I have to admit that I expected something different from a disc that's titled "Safe and Sound" and marketed with the tagline, "Learn the importance of safety."
As a parent, I'm thinking, Great! My little one could use a primer on traffic safety and crossing streets, or what to do around strangers, or how to deal with bullies--or even the kind of specious homilies we heard from our parents about running with scissors, surviving lightning, or swimming on a full stomach. Two of these episodes are situational, like that. In "Out on a Limb," one of the marmosets wants to go where no marmoset has ever gone before--to the very tippy-top of the World Tree--and there are some safety tips here about using common sense and not exceeding your limits. "The Sting" gives us an episode about Wart's frog friend Greenie, who's frightened of bees, but learns some basic safety rules about being around insects with the capability of inflicting painful stings. But the other three episodes have more to do with health issues than safety ones--understanding about allergies in "The Big Sneeze," how long it takes injuries to heal in "Bones," or which plants can cause itching. Then again, I suppose that avoiding poison ivy, oak, and sumac is as much a function of safety as rattlesnake awareness for families living in the West.
but these are strictly for toddlers and the pre-school set. Parents will appreciate them for their gentleness and positive message, with the World Tree a whack-you-over-the-head metaphor for our own Planet Earth. And what's wrong with learning to tolerate each other? If the animation is a little hard to put your finger on, it's something called "Shadowmation," which is a combination of puppetry, animatronics, and CGI effects. You notice it especially in close-ups of the sloth's feet as he lowers himself from a branch and adopts a "Bear in the Big Blue House" stance.
Released at the same time as this disc is a second volume, "The Earth Needs You," which has an ecology theme. "World Tree Day" has Snook making badges to reward residents who do something nice for the tree. "What a Wonderful Leaf" finds Madge throwing a leaf picnic party and everyone is bringing something special to the picnic. "Growing Pains" has Smooch planting a garden and learning that there are actually animals and insects that can help her garden grow. "Down in the Dumps" is a recycling lesson that extends to litter and cleaning up after yourself, while "Guardians of the Sappenwood Tree" deals with the idea of recognizing and preserving endangered species, whether flora or fauna.
"Bear in the Big Blue House" focused mostly on early childhood development cognitive and motor skills, walking toddlers through episodes that helped them learn colors, shapes, counting, and basic social skills like controlling emotions, sharing, turn-taking, and even potty training. This new series seems intent on developing the little ones' awareness of themselves as being connected to nature and to others in the world. Call it "It Takes a Village" meets "The Lion King," but instead of the veldt and tree of life there's the Amazon rainforest and the World Tree where Snook lives with all his friends. The emphasis is on tolerance, understanding, and getting along--lessons that a few of our politicians could have used during their early childhood development.
Cartoon Network and even Disney shows tend to speed the world up for youngsters; in the classic tradition of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," these shows from Mitchell Kriegman slow the world down. In "It's a Big Big World," which just finished its first season, everyone speaks with a calm voice. And except for the monkey and marmosets, everyone moves and speaks at a Mister Rogers-style pace. The show has a sweet and gentle tone, with a song at the beginning and end and two stories in the middle. The DVDs group five of the stories together thematically, though I have to admit that I expected something different from a disc that's titled "Safe and Sound" and marketed with the tagline, "Learn the importance of safety."
As a parent, I'm thinking, Great! My little one could use a primer on traffic safety and crossing streets, or what to do around strangers, or how to deal with bullies--or even the kind of specious homilies we heard from our parents about running with scissors, surviving lightning, or swimming on a full stomach. Two of these episodes are situational, like that. In "Out on a Limb," one of the marmosets wants to go where no marmoset has ever gone before--to the very tippy-top of the World Tree--and there are some safety tips here about using common sense and not exceeding your limits. "The Sting" gives us an episode about Wart's frog friend Greenie, who's frightened of bees, but learns some basic safety rules about being around insects with the capability of inflicting painful stings. But the other three episodes have more to do with health issues than safety ones--understanding about allergies in "The Big Sneeze," how long it takes injuries to heal in "Bones," or which plants can cause itching. Then again, I suppose that avoiding poison ivy, oak, and sumac is as much a function of safety as rattlesnake awareness for families living in the West.
but these are strictly for toddlers and the pre-school set. Parents will appreciate them for their gentleness and positive message, with the World Tree a whack-you-over-the-head metaphor for our own Planet Earth. And what's wrong with learning to tolerate each other? If the animation is a little hard to put your finger on, it's something called "Shadowmation," which is a combination of puppetry, animatronics, and CGI effects. You notice it especially in close-ups of the sloth's feet as he lowers himself from a branch and adopts a "Bear in the Big Blue House" stance.
Released at the same time as this disc is a second volume, "The Earth Needs You," which has an ecology theme. "World Tree Day" has Snook making badges to reward residents who do something nice for the tree. "What a Wonderful Leaf" finds Madge throwing a leaf picnic party and everyone is bringing something special to the picnic. "Growing Pains" has Smooch planting a garden and learning that there are actually animals and insects that can help her garden grow. "Down in the Dumps" is a recycling lesson that extends to litter and cleaning up after yourself, while "Guardians of the Sappenwood Tree" deals with the idea of recognizing and preserving endangered species, whether flora or fauna.
If you squint a little, the sloth who's the star of "It's a Big Big World" resembles a certain "Bear in the Big Blue House." He has that same gentle, slow-moving shuffle, too, and a limited world which he shares with friends. Bear had Luna the moon, Shadow, Tutter the mouse, playful otters Pip and Pop, and Ojo the bear cub; Snook the Sloth has a pair of playful marmosets named Smooch and Winslow, a howler monkey named Oko, Wartz the tree frog, Ick the Amazon catfish, Madge the wise old map turtle, and Bob, a South American anteater. There are more similarities, but you'd expect that when the creator of "Bear in the Big Blue House" is also behind this newest PBS show for very young children.
"Bear in the Big Blue House" focused mostly on early childhood development cognitive and motor skills, walking toddlers through episodes that helped them learn colors, shapes, counting, and basic social skills like controlling emotions, sharing, turn-taking, and even potty training. This new series seems intent on developing the little ones' awareness of themselves as being connected to nature and to others in the world. Call it "It Takes a Village" meets "The Lion King," but instead of the veldt and tree of life there's the Amazon rainforest and the World Tree where Snook lives with all his friends. The emphasis is on tolerance, understanding, and getting along--lessons that a few of our politicians could have used during their early childhood development.
Cartoon Network and even Disney shows tend to speed the world up for youngsters; in the classic tradition of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," these shows from Mitchell Kriegman slow the world down. In "It's a Big Big World," which just finished its first season, everyone speaks with a calm voice. And except for the monkey and marmosets, everyone moves and speaks at a Mister Rogers-style pace. The show has a sweet and gentle tone, with a song at the beginning and end and two stories in the middle. The DVDs group five of the stories together thematically, though I have to admit that I expected something different from a disc that's titled "Safe and Sound" and marketed with the tagline, "Learn the importance of safety."
As a parent, I'm thinking, Great! My little one could use a primer on traffic safety and crossing streets, or what to do around strangers, or how to deal with bullies--or even the kind of specious homilies we heard from our parents about running with scissors, surviving lightning, or swimming on a full stomach. Two of these episodes are situational, like that. In "Out on a Limb," one of the marmosets wants to go where no marmoset has ever gone before--to the very tippy-top of the World Tree--and there are some safety tips here about using common sense and not exceeding your limits. "The Sting" gives us an episode about Wart's frog friend Greenie, who's frightened of bees, but learns some basic safety rules about being around insects with the capability of inflicting painful stings. But the other three episodes have more to do with health issues than safety ones--understanding about allergies in "The Big Sneeze," how long it takes injuries to heal in "Bones," or which plants can cause itching. Then again, I suppose that avoiding poison ivy, oak, and sumac is as much a function of safety as rattlesnake awareness for families living in the West.
but these are strictly for toddlers and the pre-school set. Parents will appreciate them for their gentleness and positive message, with the World Tree a whack-you-over-the-head metaphor for our own Planet Earth. And what's wrong with learning to tolerate each other? If the animation is a little hard to put your finger on, it's something called "Shadowmation," which is a combination of puppetry, animatronics, and CGI effects. You notice it especially in close-ups of the sloth's feet as he lowers himself from a branch and adopts a "Bear in the Big Blue House" stance.
Released at the same time as this disc is a second volume, "The Earth Needs You," which has an ecology theme. "World Tree Day" has Snook making badges to reward residents who do something nice for the tree. "What a Wonderful Leaf" finds Madge throwing a leaf picnic party and everyone is bringing something special to the picnic. "Growing Pains" has Smooch planting a garden and learning that there are actually animals and insects that can help her garden grow. "Down in the Dumps" is a recycling lesson that extends to litter and cleaning up after yourself, while "Guardians of the Sappenwood Tree" deals with the idea of recognizing and preserving endangered species, whether flora or fauna.
"Bear in the Big Blue House" focused mostly on early childhood development cognitive and motor skills, walking toddlers through episodes that helped them learn colors, shapes, counting, and basic social skills like controlling emotions, sharing, turn-taking, and even potty training. This new series seems intent on developing the little ones' awareness of themselves as being connected to nature and to others in the world. Call it "It Takes a Village" meets "The Lion King," but instead of the veldt and tree of life there's the Amazon rainforest and the World Tree where Snook lives with all his friends. The emphasis is on tolerance, understanding, and getting along--lessons that a few of our politicians could have used during their early childhood development.
Cartoon Network and even Disney shows tend to speed the world up for youngsters; in the classic tradition of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," these shows from Mitchell Kriegman slow the world down. In "It's a Big Big World," which just finished its first season, everyone speaks with a calm voice. And except for the monkey and marmosets, everyone moves and speaks at a Mister Rogers-style pace. The show has a sweet and gentle tone, with a song at the beginning and end and two stories in the middle. The DVDs group five of the stories together thematically, though I have to admit that I expected something different from a disc that's titled "Safe and Sound" and marketed with the tagline, "Learn the importance of safety."
As a parent, I'm thinking, Great! My little one could use a primer on traffic safety and crossing streets, or what to do around strangers, or how to deal with bullies--or even the kind of specious homilies we heard from our parents about running with scissors, surviving lightning, or swimming on a full stomach. Two of these episodes are situational, like that. In "Out on a Limb," one of the marmosets wants to go where no marmoset has ever gone before--to the very tippy-top of the World Tree--and there are some safety tips here about using common sense and not exceeding your limits. "The Sting" gives us an episode about Wart's frog friend Greenie, who's frightened of bees, but learns some basic safety rules about being around insects with the capability of inflicting painful stings. But the other three episodes have more to do with health issues than safety ones--understanding about allergies in "The Big Sneeze," how long it takes injuries to heal in "Bones," or which plants can cause itching. Then again, I suppose that avoiding poison ivy, oak, and sumac is as much a function of safety as rattlesnake awareness for families living in the West.
but these are strictly for toddlers and the pre-school set. Parents will appreciate them for their gentleness and positive message, with the World Tree a whack-you-over-the-head metaphor for our own Planet Earth. And what's wrong with learning to tolerate each other? If the animation is a little hard to put your finger on, it's something called "Shadowmation," which is a combination of puppetry, animatronics, and CGI effects. You notice it especially in close-ups of the sloth's feet as he lowers himself from a branch and adopts a "Bear in the Big Blue House" stance.
Released at the same time as this disc is a second volume, "The Earth Needs You," which has an ecology theme. "World Tree Day" has Snook making badges to reward residents who do something nice for the tree. "What a Wonderful Leaf" finds Madge throwing a leaf picnic party and everyone is bringing something special to the picnic. "Growing Pains" has Smooch planting a garden and learning that there are actually animals and insects that can help her garden grow. "Down in the Dumps" is a recycling lesson that extends to litter and cleaning up after yourself, while "Guardians of the Sappenwood Tree" deals with the idea of recognizing and preserving endangered species, whether flora or fauna.
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