Olivia & her family - cr Chorion

Nick Jr. is set to bring children’s book character Olivia to animated life. The series, which has 26 episodes in its first season, is based on the Olivia series from Ian Falconer.

For those unfamiliar with the books, Olivia is a six year old who believes she can do anything and with her vivid imagination she often can. She has self confidence in spades and promotes independent thinking, ingenuity, and persistence.

She is joined by her 4 year old brother Ian (my son’s favorite character), William the baby, her parents, her dog Perry and her cat Edwin, and her friends Julian and Francine.

The premiere episode opens with a charming sequence where Edwin firmly plants himself in the middle of Olivia’s work (if you have a cat this will look familiar). Short sketches like this appear to be the way most episodes will open, as the second story had a similar intro.

Each episode has 2 stories. The first story in this episode has Olivia battling the thought that her little brother will likely be bigger than her one day. Olivia then concocts ways to keep Ian from growing.

The second episode features a snow day which results in Olivia running an imaginary hotel with Julian and Francine (and some unintended participation from Ian).

I’ll be honest and admit that I haven’t read the Falconer books so this was my first introduction to Olivia. That said the first impressions are favorable. I used the word charming earlier, and it’s a fairly apt description of the show. It is nicely animated and not overly invasive for you parents (you can live be in the same room with the show and have it not be distracting). And my kids seemed to really enjoy the screener, asking to watch it a half dozen times in the first week we had it.

If you’re a fan of the book series, drop me a line with your impressions once you’ve seen it. It will premiere at 11:30 on January 26th with new episodes all week.

Penguins of Madagascar

Prior to that a Madagascar – Escape 2 Africa & Nick Penguins 2-Disc Set is being released on February 6th.

The new series embraces and celebrates the fascination that preschoolers have with both dinosaurs and trains while encouraging basic scientific thinking and skills as the audience learns about natural science, natural history and paleontology. It’s the type of show that PBS Kids has been embracing with many of their newer shows focusing on typical school subjects (Super Why, Word World, It’s a Big Big World).

The series is a second partnership The Jim Henson Company as it joins SID THE SCIENCE KID, which premiered in fall 2008.

DINOSAUR TRAIN is seen through the eyes of Buddy, a preschool-aged Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Buddy and his adoptive family of Pteranodons go for adventures on the Dinosaur Train to meet all kinds of dinosaurs in different eras and learn fascinating new facts about these incredible creatures.

Noggin has ordered but 26 episodes of the series which aims to expand preschoolers’ awareness of the variety of people and places around the world and encourage exploration and adventure.

The show will be rolled out with 2 prime time episodes on Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. (Party Pride/The Race)and 7:30 p.m. (Free Falling Friends/Curried Flavors). It’s regular time slot will be 5:00 p.m. ET and Monday through Friday until November 28th new episodes will debut.

The show aimed at 2 to 5 year olds focuses on a five year old girl named Kai-lan. The series explores the colorful aspects of her upbringing and background, and her relationships with family, friends, and the world around her.

The characters of the show include:

• YeYe:  YeYe is Kai-lan’s grandpa.  He provides her with guidance, but let’s her find her own answers while he learns from her as well.
• Rintoo:  Rintoo is a five year old tiger who loves to play with his best friend Kai-lan.  He is impulsive with much bravado but also sweet and caring.
• Tolee:  Tolee is a koala who always puts his friends first.  He sometimes worries too much, but can’t wait to be part of games and activities.
• Hoho:  A three year old monkey is the youngest of Kai-lan’s friends.  He loves to be the center of attention.
• Lulu:  The oldest of the group, Lulu is a six year old pink rhino who loves to dance and is eager to help out.

Preschoolers will learn many mandarin words and phrases, as well as how to deal with issues such as taking turns, disappointment and jealousy.

The initial season has 20 episodes.

More on Ni Hao Kai-lan:

Review: ‘Ni Hao, Kai-lan’ like Mandarin Dora

Being authentic is admirable, but whether “Ni Hao, Kai-lan” succeeds or not depends less on that or even the “emotional intelligence curriculum” than it does on whether the 2-t0-5 demo finds Kai-lan and friends entertaining. It may be visually pleasing and sweet at its heart – good and good for you, as they say – but if Kai-lan, Rintoo, Tolee, Hoho, Lulu and Gramps can’t set the hook in those kids from Kansas, this series will be forgotten faster than the French you learned in high school.

Chinese-speaking Kai-lan joins network who teaches little kids Spanish with Dora, Diego

For anyone interested in China, “Ni Hao, Kai-lan” is a dramatic illustration of how much Chinese culture — like Irish, German, Italian and so many other immigrant cultures before it — is not only present in America but is part of us. That’s part of why Jade-Lianna Gao Peters, the 11-year-old Milwaukee girl who voices Kai-lan, is excited about what American kids unfamiliar with Chinese culture can glean from the show.

It is currently airing on Nick Jr. UK and the shows website describes the show thusly:

Peppa is a loveable, cheeky little piggy who lives with her little brother George, Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig. Peppa’s favourite things include playing games, dressing up, days out and jumping in muddy puddles. Her adventures always end happily with loud snorts of laughter.

‘Peppa’ hits Nickelodeon’s Noggin – Entertainment News, TV News, Media – Variety

First they greenlighted a second season of Pinky Dinky Doo. The new season will contain 26 episodes.

Also, they will premiere a full 26 episode season of Toot & Puddle starting in Fall 2008. The series is based on books by children’s author Holly Hobbie.

Oso is part of an international organization of stuffed animals who help kids with everyday tasks.

Interactive Agent Oso Coming to Playhouse Disney

» Blog Archive » Prepping the Pitch: Know What Is on the Development Slate Prepping the Pitch: Know What Is on the Development Slate

PBS Kids will air a new show in fall 2008 called What’s the Big Idea?. The show’s educational goal is science readiness and it will be produced by The Jim Henson Company.

In a sketch-comedy format, What’s the Big Idea? focuses on an inquisitive youngster named Josh who explores everyday questions that preschoolers find fascinating. The 40×30-minute series will be created using the Henson Digital Performance Studio, which is a proprietary technology that allows puppeteers to perform digital characters in real time to create a more spontaneous result.

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