Poppy Cat

I encounter Poppy Cat nearly ten years ago in the UK, as the children I looked after had several of the books. The simplistic art, bold colors, and gentle characters were good for entertaining toddlers, but I would say the cut off age for the books is probably age 4. The cartoon is gentle and seems to give the characters a bit more depth, at least as much as can be given in a show designed for preschoolers. The problems the characters encounter focus on developing imagination, and social skills. This is not a show that has a teaching focus like Nina’s World or Daniel Tiger, instead it’s messages are in the context of a story similar to Maisy the Mouse.

This show is unique, entertaining, appropriate, and fun! I live with my 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, and 12 year old nieces and nephews, and the ones 5 and under always sit around the TV when the shows come on. There is no violence, no annoying voices or songs, positive role models (both female and male), and no inappropriate potty humor jokes (rare in children's cartoons nowadays). Poppy Cat leads her group of friends on adventures through a young child's eyes. Egburt (the antagonist) is a bit annoying and rude, but isn't scary or too mean. Another thing is that Poppy Cat is relatively gender neutral. While Alma the bunny is pink and girly, Poppy Cat is a female but she wears gender-neutral clothing. This show is best for children 2-6 (after that it might bore kids), but I still find myself watching it today.

Poppy Cat is a sweet little show with 12-minute episodes featuring a few animal friends who go on imaginative adventures. There's a general theme of helping friends and strangers alike, being polite, being adventurous and conquering fears/trying new things. The characters are generally sweet (the antagonist, Egbert, is irritating but harmless) with just occasional somewhat-under-the-radar sarcasm and eye-rolling from Owl and no name-calling. The animation is refreshingly sweet and almost has an "a child drew this" aesthetic, with clunky, whimsical and colorful backdrops. As a mom of two girls, I'm also interested in how children's shows depict gender roles, how often the female characters are princesses, etc. What I like about Poppy Cat is that it's largely gender neutral-- while one of the two female characters (Alma) is fairly "girly," the other (Poppy) is fairly gender-neutral. I mean that in a "everyone goes deep-sea diving and Alma has a pink helmet but Poppy has a yellow one like all of the male characters" kind of way. For what it's worth, that sort of thing is presented in Poppy Cat in a subtle way, where other shows tend to make "girly" concessions for their female characters. Of course, I could be over-analyzing :) Overall, Poppy Cat is a charming little show and my girls have been mesmerized by it long enough for me to get lunch put together since they were 11 months old. It's a staple for us! EDITED TO ADD: I noted that CSM has given Poppy Cat a one-star "Consumerism" rating. There is a book series from which this show originated; however, I'd like to add that the series is of UK origin and in the US it's hard to find much by way of Poppy Cat merchandise. I considered a Poppy Cat themed second birthday party for my twins and couldn't find anything at all, and even a stuffed Poppy Cat would have to be shipped (for quite a bit of money) from the UK. I wish there was a bit more offered on this side of the pond, but the show has only been on-air even in the UK for a bit over a year now.