Super Why

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Super Why is a show aimed at toddlers aged from around 3 years old, and encourages the learning of reading and recognising letters and words through interactive stories. It's an interesting concept, and one I've finally gotten my head around after quite a few watches. Although the show started in America, it's been dubbed for English audiences using English voice actors which makes it far more friendly for our toddlers. As well ...
...parent.

Super Why is a computer animated show set in the fictional town of Storybrooke Village. This is supposedly a place behind your bookshelf where all the fairytale characters live, and where our 4 characters live too. The show centres around its 4 characters, 3 of them from stories children should be familiar with themselves. Pig is from The Three Little Pigs, Princess P is from "The Princess and the Pea" and Red from ... more

Since becoming a mum, I've become more familiar with children's television shows than I ever cared to be. I'm happy that Harry favours more of the traditional shows such as Fireman Sam, Postman Pat, Bob the Builder and Noddy, but occasionally he stumbles across a more modern show that he falls in love with. Sky television channel Nick Jnr airs an original American show called "Super Why" a few times a day, and its become a regular watch for us, and is often found on our Sky Plus recording list as well!

Super Why is a show aimed at toddlers aged from around 3 years old, and encourages the learning of reading and recognising letters and words through interactive stories. It's an interesting concept, and one I've finally gotten my head around after quite a few watches. Although the show started in America, it's been dubbed for English audiences using English voice actors which makes it far more friendly for our toddlers. As well as being a really fun watch with lots to keep you hooked, it's an educational show and thats a definite plus for me as a parent.

Super Why is a computer animated show set in the fictional town of Storybrooke Village. This is supposedly a place behind your bookshelf where all the fairytale characters live, and where our 4 characters live too. The show centres around its 4 characters, 3 of them from stories children should be familiar with themselves. Pig is from The Three Little Pigs, Princess P is from "The Princess and the Pea" and Red from "Little Red Riding Hood". The fourth character, and the one the show is named after, is Wyatt, who is meant to be the younger brother of Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, although I don't think this is made clear at all. Together, the four friends jump into stories to find an answer to a problem relating to one of them, and help your child learn along the way.

I think the idea of a show that fully encourages reading is great, and this is why I don't mind Harry watching this show at all. Each of the main characters have a "super power" which helps them solve the problem in the show. Wyatt has the power to read, Pig has the power of letters, Princess has spelling and Red has Word Power. Each of these things are utilised in each show, so many different aspects of literacy are covered in this show. There is a lot of repetition involved, which is vital in young children's learning, and also the characters "interact" with their audience by prompting children for answers such as "which word would fit" and "which letter is C", with the alphabet displayed on screen in front of them. This type of learning is great as Harry is fascinated, and I'm sure he'll soon be able to jump up and answer Wyatt!

The stories used in the programme are mainly traditional stories which most children will know, such as Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel (2 we have seen recently which spring to mind!), but they have changed the story slightly to a) fit in with the problem of the show and b) to modernise it and make it appeal to younger viewers. I wasn't keen on this at first because I wasn't sure stories like that should be changed, but it seems to work for Super Why. The main idea of the story is still present, just the method of getting there is just different. Because of the nature of the show, things are changed at the end as well because the characters have to solve the problem, which inevitably means more shifting of the story, but again in the constraints of this show, it does work.

In terms of its educational value, I think this show is very good. As I mentioned before, there are 4 different elements of literacy covered here. The alphabet is covered by Pig, asking children to identify letters on screen which later form part of key words. Red shows us different words to fit in the story, and the child has to help choose the one which helps the story. Princess does spelling with children, sounding out letters phonetically to form a word. Wyatt, using his Super pen thingy, reads the story along the bottom of the screen, highlighting each word as he speaks it so children can follow. So all these elements together cover a broad range of the basics of literacy for young children. Appropriate pauses are given throughout the show to encourage your child to answer the question, and then answers are repeated using children's voices to emphasise the correct answer.

The final elements of the show is the "Super Story Answer". This is the answer to the original problem in the show which is taken from the story the gang jump into. Throughout the story, several red "Super Letters" appear on the screen, and they are stored in Wyatt's super computer, and they are then arranged to form the answer at the end of the show. They are slot into the correct place in the word as they are found, so older children can guess at the answer, although I think some of them are quite hard for the age group this is aimed at. However, this part of the show gives the whole thing an aim for the end, and provides fun for children spotting the letters as they watch.

In my opinion, this is a fun and educational show for toddlers, and certainly a lot better than certain ones out there! Yes, the theme song is incredibly annoying, and the constant upbeat-ness of the characters grates on your nerves a bit, but you can't fault this show for doing its bit for children's literacy skills. It is a fun way to aid reading in children, teaching the alphabet and enjoying a good story (although nothing is better than a good book!). The characters are really friendly and the voice artists do a great job making them appeal to its target audience. It's very colourful, quite a few songs along the way make it a bit fun, and it's just a fun watch. I would recommend it to parents of young children who want something a bit different, and bravo to Nick Jnr for bringing this show over to the UK.

The show is aired on Nick Jnr and Nick Jnr 2 several times throughout the day, check your TV Guide for times as its always changing! Each episode is around 20 minutes long. It's not currently available on DVD in the UK.

Website: http://www.nickjr.co.uk/shows/superwhy/

Thank you for reading.  

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