It's a Big Big World

My daughter and I loved this show when she was young. Not only is it beautiful to look at, but the songs are catchy and meaningful. The puppetry is masterful and creates characters with distinct personalities. The shows also teach important concepts in a way that appeals to young children. The conflicts on the show are generally mild. Characters disagree, but they manage to work it out. The "adult" characters are there to advise the less-mature characters while encouraging them to reason for themselves. Older children and many adults may not appreciate the relatively quiet and at times slow pace of the show. However, young children really benefit from a slow pace and repetition -- even to a point that can annoy adults. I recently showed parts of the show to my 3-year-old niece on YouTube, and she was mesmerized.

The only problem was that the songs themselves were too short. When I finally found a way to download it, she wanted to listen to "Touch the Sky" (the song at the end of the show) over and over!

Excellent show - the animation and puppeteering is fantastic and high quality. The story lines are all very friendly and positive. They pace is not the hyperkinetic, seizure inducing frentic, change scenes three times a second style that dominates too much programming for kids. Our daughter absolutely loves this show, and smiles and babbles happy noises when she hears the theme song. She has a total crush on Snook the Sloth and smiles when he is on screen. She especially loves the closing song.

The themes the show covers are all good, learning friendly concepts - science, math, self-discovery, getting along, confronting fear and doubt sensibly, and growing. The animals are mostly youngsters with some adults, like Snook and Madge the turtle, to guide and mentor the young animals.

One small criticism - Bob. What is up with Bob? He has his "moments." He's the Woody Allen of the World Tree. Bob ought be voted off the island. Also, Snook is indeed a stoner, but a lovable one.

Hey PBS - how about a DVD?

I really liked this show and my 2 year old loved it! He would ask for it when the time came every day for it to be on. Unfortunately, it was cancelled in my viewing area and I have not had a response on how to purchase any items of the show. The lessons that were taught in the show were very "real" for children, the special effects made it appear like a real jungle and the songs/music were very entertaining. My son loved the characters as they were puppet-like animals that danced and sang-very entertaining all around! I/we are very sad that we are not able to see this show but we frequent the website often! We are interested in learning how to purchase stuffed animals of them and are even making this the theme for my son's 2nd Birthday Party. I highly recommend it as it is a riveting and educational show for toddlers and preschoolers!

My 17 month old daughter just loves this show. As soon as she hears the first few notes of the opening song a smile from ear to ear appears. From that point on she's a happy little girl. The music makes her dance. The best shows for her are the ones in which they really focus on the music as she is still too young to follow a storyline. The great part about the show is that my husband and I can actually sit with her and watch this program without going insane.(What's with Boobah, anyway?) I hear tell that adults are watching this show even without their kids being around. In our family even Grandma and Grandpa are hooked. This show is great fun!

This show is amazing for your kids who are interested in science! Except one or two episodes, but this is awesome!