Common Sense Note
Parents need to know each episode features a conflict shared by loveable animal characters. The tree they all live in is a metaphor for the world, filled with diversity and unity. In addition, topics in geography, geoscience, and bioscience are integrated into the stories with the characters learning and solving problems together.
Families can talk about how the show represents diversity in our world. In what ways are we different and the same? Families can also talk about the ways the child characters solve their problems using communication, critical thinking, and turning to caring adults for support.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Pam Gelman
From the creator of Bear in the Big Blue House comes another great show for young preschoolers using puppets to demonstrate characters living peacefully in the world. Their world is a gigantic tree filled with homes for all sorts of interesting and adorable creatures. The host is a tall sloth named Snook who is narrator, peacekeeper, problem solver, singer/dancer, playmate, and most of all -- a dependable adult caregiver.
Other characters include sibling marmosets Smooch and Winslow, a tree frog named Wartz, an anteater named Bob, a bird named Burdette, a fish named Ick, an old monkey named Oko, and an ancient turtle with a map of the world on her shell named Madge. Note that there are adult characters too, who help the child characters when support is needed. They're all very different in how they look and move, yet they all share the same tree and coexist peacefully and happily.
Using Banraku, the style of puppetry where puppeteers dressed in blue operate each puppet in front of a blue screen, the characters have a great range of expression and flexibility. The colorful background is added using computer-generated animation in real time. The effect is quite rich, full of depth and vibrancy.
IT'S A BIG BIG WORLD is geared toward preschoolers who are moving from playing on their own or next to friends to playing with others and learning to negotiate, communicate responsively, and compromise. It may bore kindergartners on up, who have mastered these skills. But for younger kids, this is a highly recommended program.
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