Curious George

TV Show Review for Parents

Based on the timeless books by Margret and H.A. Rey, the Curious George TV show maintains the charm of the original stories and uses a similar animation style. Curious George is targeted at preschoolers, and the show's curriculum focuses on math, science and engineering. Each half hour episode contains two stories, and at the end of each story PBS Kids host "Miss Lori" discusses the main concept taught in the show and shows a clip of children practicing or learning about the concept.

Emmy Award-winning actor William H. Macy (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) narrates the adventures of Curious George, the little monkey whose love for learning is contagious. Although his curiosity about anything and everything sometimes gets George into trouble, it is also his most endearing quality. Like children, George learns about life through curiously exploring anything that catches his attention. He reminds us that this child-like way of looking at the world is positive, fun, and valuable, even if it does result in a mess every now and then.

The creators of Curious George did a wonderful job of maintaining the style of the original stories while adding into each one an age-appropriate curriculum based on math and science. Curious George is the perfect character to introduce these concepts to preschoolers, as his famous curiosity is an essential quality for exploring the world, developing problem-solving skills, and thinking outside the box.

While kids will learn from Curious George, they will also be very entertained. The loveable little monkey's mischievous ways provide the perfect combination of excitement and humor for preschoolers, and his misdeeds are usually just far-fetched enough as to make them nearly impossible to mimic.

• Use kids' love of Curious George to inspire them to read the books as well as watch the TV show.
• Find games and activities that allow kids to explore the world like George does. You can search for age-appropriate science experiments on the web (things like combining vinegar and baking soda) or just let your kids play with foods or other items of different textures and properties. Let them play with water and find out what happens when you add flour, or dump cheerios from one container to another. These types of open activities don't require a specific right answer or method, and kids learn to be creative and draw their own conclusions.