Word World – A new show reviewed by Whitney’s sister

My sister is too lazy tired to write on her own blog, so she has asked me to babysit the blog as I babysit her kids. Here goes.

My nephew Julian likes to start his day the same way I do- a soothing beverage (milk for him, coffee for me) and a little morning TV in bed (Sesame Street and The Today Show, respectively.) When I was getting up with him for a few mornings last week, I found it convenient that our morning rituals so closely overlap. Less convenient was the fact that fully functioning, there’s a thirty percent chance I can figure out my sister’s eleventy billion remote-multi player-special sound system entertainment setup. Pre coffee, the chances are slim to none. “Julian, Auntie Em can’t figure out how to play Sesame Street on the TV. Let’s watch a DVD instead.” Julian selected the one “with the puppy on it” otherwise known as Word World.

On the DVD was a sample of Word World, an animated, literacy-based series set to debut September 3^rd on PBS. Word World is an idyllic community with grassy green hills, clear blue skies, and animals formed by the letters of their names eg; an S, H, E, E, and P serve as “SHEEP’s” torso. It’s a clever concept that impressed the lit. geek in me (performative language, oooooh.) Julian cared little for the letters but was intrigued by the walking, talking animals.

The episode features a runaway O that is chased throughout Word World by its animal inhabitants and mistaken for a variety of circles found in everyday life including a doughnut, a hoola hoop, and an inner tube. The adventures of the O kept Julian entertained and engaged particularly when the O makes its way onto a train. The boy loves trains. “Auntie Em, now the O is on a blue train.” BEAR, SHEEP, and DOG are eager to return the O to CAT’s home so they can use it to rebuild a box that CAT has received. With the O in place, a B and an X appear out of nowhere and the animals sing a little song (“It’s time to build a word”,) do a little dance (essentially, it’s the hokey pokey) and build the word B-O-X which results in the creation of an actual box containing a bunch of Os. There are many theoretical questions to be posited with this reveal. Where do the B and the X come from? Why, if there is a plethora of Os, was it so important to catch this one? Where did all of the Os go when the box wasn’t in existence?

Julian ignores my nonplussed look and immediately wants to know what’s in the box. He guesses that it’s a cat. After the third viewing of this episode, he still guessed that it was a cat. Though in his defense, he’s much more likely to open a box and find a cat than a bunch of lifesize, rubbery Os.

The language-based concept is intriguing and well executed, the animals are cute, and the pacing is far preferable to the deathly slow Thomas train show, but the writing is a bit sophisticated for its audience. I will marvel at the three year old who accurately uses impetuous in a sentence, but I’ve yet to encounter him (or her.) And puns are typically lost on the set that find hilarity in pretending cold things are hot or singing the lyrics, “I’ve been working on the railroad all the livelong DADDY!”

Julian watched the episode the whole way through and even requested to watch it again the next morning, but I’m not sure he took anything away from it other than, “Auntie Em, now the O is on a blue train.”

The Parent Bloggers Network provided the opportunity to review this show in advance of its airing on PBS.