I’ll just come out and admit it, I have been a snob about books based on television shows, especially shows found on Noggin and Nick Jr. The teacher and the English major in me has run away from the rotating shelves at Borders that display the Dora, Diego, Blue’s Clues and Backyardigans books and I have, until now, never recommended any of these books to a reader.
But the time has come to swallow my pride and say it: these “character” books are not bad. More than that, they can be an incredibly powerful hook for kids, a way for them to engage with books that they might not have found otherwise. Additionally, for struggling readers, these books based on T.V. can be a great help as they grow into more confident readers. But I’ll slow down here, explain how I got from one extreme to the other.
My son is 21 months old. I have been reading to him for his whole life – literally from the day I found out I was pregnant. He loves books and he loves listening to my husband and I read to him. But – and this is when I began to revise my thinking on this one – when he was old enough to pick out his own book from the bookstore, when he could crawl around and show me what he wanted (because I never steered him to the character books) he went right for a Backyardigans book. That was at 10 months (yes, I know it’s an entirely different story about why he knew and loved the Backyardigans at only 10 months old), and he still loves that book and the others we have about his favorite television show.
Kids want all kinds of things that aren’t always good for them, but these Backyardigans books seem to be great. Ethan sits with them for long chunks of time turning the pages, looking at the pictures and, now, saying words and short sentences that make sense for each page.
After I realized how much Ethan loved these books, we began to give him free reign at the bookstore, where he will almost always pick a book based on a television show that he watches – Dora, Diego, Blue’s Clues, Sesame Street. And he loves them. And he “reads” them. Over and over again.
And then I began to talk to other mothers and other, older readers about these character books and the consensus seems to be in line with what I saw with Ethan – kids like these books, and they like to read them. And in an age where television-watching seems to be taking up lots of time in the day, isn’t it far “better” to have kids read books based on their favorite characters than passively watch them on T.V. all the time?
So I got to the point that I was comfortable with these books as a mother, but the teacher in me wanted more. I came to understand that kids who are familiar with certain television shows will be more successful at reading books that are familiar to them. I often recommend that struggling readers work through a series of books so that characters and settings are familiar to them. Isn’t this the same but on an even more visual level? Hmmm… I never would have imagined that I might recommend Dora books to a struggling reader, that they might actually be just the thing to pull her back into reading.
I gave all of these ideas another run with Wow, Wow, Wubbzy. This is a show on Noggin that I had never watched before. I had decided that it was not worth my time or Ethan’s time – after all, if he’s going to watch T.V. than we might as well both get something from it. So I sat down with a Wubbzy DVD, A Tale of Tails, and watched it straight through with Ethan. And it was good! It was about learning to accept others, friendship and problem-solving. It was also funny, sweet and fun for Ethan to watch – the ultimate litmus test in my mind.
After the DVD we moved to two books. The first was based on one of the episodes in the DVD, A Tale of Tails. The book was very true to the show in that it captured the plot, characters, setting and tone perfectly. Ultimately, it tells the story of Wubbzy, who has a very long, bendy tail. He is ostracized by some kids he wants to play with because he is different, until his friends help him realize that his tail is cool and he should be proud of it. At the end, the kids who ignored Wubbzy in the beginning are eager to play with him. (From a plot point of view, the book is slightly predictable – but that’s my adult opinion, kids seem to love Wubbzy and, therefore, will love this book.)
For a child who may struggle with reading or who is learning to read, the fact that the book so closely mirrors the show is ideal. The knowledge that she already has from watching the show would help with reading the words and following the story in print. (This book also comes complete with stickers, which were a huge hit in my house!)
The second, and final, Wubbzy book that we read is called It’s Wubbzy! This is a book that works as an introduction to Wubbzy and may be best for younger readers. It’s a board book that talks when you press a button, saying “Wow, wow, everyone! My name is Wubbzy!” Each page introduces readers to a character in the stories with little text and bright, colorful illustrations. This one was a huge hit with Ethan!
So after getting over my wrong judgment about Wubbzy in general, I was able to learn something myself. These character books are engaging, fun to read and easy to understand – especially if your child is familiar with the show. Finding television in books is not such a bad thing after all. . . .
Jenny is the editor of Ethan’s Bookshelf, a children’s literacy site, and writes her blog Read. Imagine. Talk. When not in front of her computer, Jenny can be found chasing after her son, reading a good book, or watching really bad reality T.V.
Editor’s Note: Shortly after Jenny pitched this idea to me, we were contacted about doing a Wow, Wow, Wubbzy DVD and book set giveaway. I had the review copies sent to her so that she could include them in her review. Now three of you have the opportunity to win the books and DVD mentioned in this post. If you click over to 5 Minutes for Mom, you can enter to win over there, too!
Leave a comment, and we’ll draw the winners on October 1. Try to keep your comment on topic: what’s your opinion of these kinds of TV tie-in books?
This giveaway is closed.
I can see the value in mixing in some media tie-in books, but I still *cringe* at the steady diet of TV-driven ideas our kids get.
We often get books with licensed characters for review, but we don’t review them. As you suggest, parents recognize the product and can decide whether it’s a character who is their child’s friend. There isn’t anything new we could offer.
Because we work with at-risk readers, most of whom don’t own any books, these are books they treasure. So we save them for just that audience.
I’m a little torn on the TV tie-in characters in books. I can see how it is frustrating for parents to always have their kids toys, books, ideas, play dictated by the tv. On the other hand, my son loves Elmo and Cookie Monster, but he doesn’t see Sesame Street more than twice every six months. He just likes them and they have good characteristics that I wouldn’t mind exposing him to.
Being a former kindergarten teacher I totally hear what you are saying. I would say that 95% of my books are what I would consider good literature, but I always had a few books that were given to me by students that were often tv based. As a mother, I’ve picked up a few tv based books for my 22 month old because it’s choosing something that he can already relate to. Will I continue to do this as he gets older??? Probably not, but I say if it gets a child into reading… go for it!
At this point I give my daughter free reign on what she chooses to read – any interest in books is a good thing! We don’t have TV here, so it hasn’t been a really big issue for us, but she loves seeing something in a book that she has seen elsewhere, or vice versa – like watching a hippo video and then reading a book about hippos.
I was skeptical at first, but my 21 month old daughter loves Seasme Street and Curious George. We try to limit the amount of tv that she watches, but she’s always loved books. I’ve noticed that lately she been drawn more to the books that have tv characters from the shows we allow her to watch. It’s changed my opinion about these books…maybe they aren’t so bad after all!
I”m torn on this issue- my daughter is 5 and I’m starting to tell her, “okay, no barbie or princess books, you have SO MANY!” when we go to the library. There’s a lot of quality kid lit out there that doesn’t have tv characters.
On the other hand, my son is not much interested in being read to yet, UNLESS it’s the Backyardigans. His other favorite is Wow Wow Wubbzy, so I’d love to win that.
We have just started letting our daughter (15 mo) watch TV and she doesn’t seem to be hooked on any one show yet. But she loves books too! We read constantly and I love it when she brings me a books and says “read!”
Thanks for the giveaway!
I used to feel the same way and tried to avoid TV character books, but what ever gets them interested in books is fine by me!
We limit the TV that our 2 1/2 year old daughter is allowed to watch to just a few different shows (her favorites are Dora, Diego, and Backyardigans). When it comes to books, she does love the Dora and Diego books that she has been given as gifts, and I do not mind because they do seem pretty educational…it has helped her learn her colors, numbers, alphabet, etc. She loves any type of book, though, and does not insist on reading just those based on TV characters, so I think we have a good balance.
I used to be unsure about the books until I saw how well they worked with kids that were reluctant readers. While completing my masters degree in Literacy I often had children that did not want to read anything. I found books about characters that they knew from television and they were instantly engaged.
My oldest son, now in kindergarten, likes any and all books. If we go into a store sure goes right for the character books, but easily is convinced to purchase something else. With that said we have our fair share of character books at home and both of my boys love making the connection with television and reading. Of course I have to say that the new character books are so much better these days since they have lessons to learn in them.
great post! I too had a hard time with TV-tie in books for my daughter, but you are right…the kids love them! My daughter (6yrs) finally GOT that she could read on her own when she picked up a Blue’s Clues reader and started looking through it. She suddenly ran up to me and said ‘mom! I know what all the words are in this book!’ I just don’t know if she would have been engaged enough in any old book to figure that out herself.
I think that if the character books make a child more interested in reading, then more power to them! And for children that do not watch T.V they get to have a little glimpse at the characters through the books instead. My daughter watches T.V. but loooooooooves books, and some of her favorites are those based on the T.V shows. She loves Wubbzy so it would be great to win. Thanks for the giveaway!
I think having character books can be helpful because I know our daughter likes taking her “friends” with her when we go shopping or wherever. I may not always like the books she picks out at the library, and I try to steer her in the right direction of books I would like her to look at (being almost 4, she cannot read yet). I always have the final say, but whatever books we bring home – character or not – we MAKE educational. At this stage, we have been learning letters, colors, shapes, etc. These things are available in any of the books available.
Granted, our daughter may be younger than some of the other reader’s children of this blog, but I think with the discretion of each parent any book can be made teachable. We can ask questions of the pictures, ask what the child would do differently in the same situation, ask why certain things happened during different parts of the story, etc. Any book can be a learning experience.
Thank you so much for the great giveaway!
If you ask my 6 yo son, he’ll say he LOVES SpongeBob and ScoobyDoo… even though, without cable in our house, he’s never seen the cartoons. He got to know the characters through the appealing and easy 8×8 inch books on the spinning rack in the bookstore.
They’re not my favorite kind of books, they’re fluff – but, hey, I need some fluff reading in my life too. I don’t choose character books for my kids but I don’t say no when they want to choose them, either.
We don’t know Wubbzy, but I bet my 22-month old would love him.
Reading books with my daughters favorite characters gets her interested. After she gets settled down then we can read a “good” book. So she gets what she wants and the enrichment I want for her.
I am all for kids reading whatever they are interested in (and I’m a teacher too). My kids have loved pokemon for years, it got my son to read because I couldn’t read the game for him all day and he figured it out on his own and then applied to other reading. The love of reading is the end result and the path taken isn’t important.
When I was pregnant I made alot of lists of what not to do. You can guess how that went, when the time actually came! TV characters were a pet peeve of mine but when Blues Clues made my son take interest in the toilet, I changed my mind. I still avoid the channels with commercials, but if Wubbzy spikes my sons interest in books, I’m all for it!
I don’t mind books from tv shows. My oldest doesn’t like to read, but one thing she did always like our the books from tv shows. If she reads at all, I’m happy 🙂
We’ve been trying not to let our son watch TV until he’s two (which is only a few more months now). Character books are another way to enjoy the stories without watching them on TV.
I have a 2 and 3 year old the love Wubbzy and love books. I havent seen the character books besides Dora and Deigo so if i could win that would be great but if not i will have to search for them. I just know they would love books based on their favorite shows as they love anything Dora and Deigo
We don’t our grandson watch too mcuh TV but we read to him many books a day, including Wubbzy. would love to be a winner.
I haven’t seen Wubbzy but I bet my kids would love it.
I think the TV tie-in books are a great way to make a reluctant reader take more interest. My son has always been more interested in a book if it featured characters he’s familiar with already.
We have a Bob the Builder book and a few Backyardigans books and honestly, they all seem pretty disjointed to me. The fact that the book is trying to cover a whole episode in a few short pages is pretty obvious to me but my kids seem to like these books anyway.
I don’t mind most of the tv tie-ins. If I would let them watch the show on occasion I let them have the book. We did recieve some sponge bob books (they were exposed by their slightly older cousin) that I did not read for them, The rest Dora, diego, elmo, disney princesses, if they love the character they love the book. Any reading is better than none.
I like the idea of TV tie-in characters in book.
I think it helps to develop interest in reading if a child is presented with a book that has a character that he likes.
Thank you!
janetfaye (at) gmail (dot) com
I also didn’t like TV tie-in books at first but my son has gravitated toward them. But he loves any books, so as long as there’s a good mix of regular children’s books and TV books, I don’t mind. As others have said, anything that gets a kid interested in books is fine with me!
I think they’re great! Anything that gets my kids into reading is OK by me.
Tale of Tails DVD and book set is something my son would love. Great review and thanks!
I’d love to win this for my “Grandkid Library” here. I don’t have any TV related character books, but your post has me rethinking that. Thank you for opening my eyes.
My daughter is just starting to take an interest in television. I’d love to win this to give her something fun to watch in the mornings as we get started for the day. Thanks for the chance! m_huston(at)hotmail(dot)com
Depends on the show.
I WOULD LOVE TO WIN THIS FOR MY KIDS.
I think they are fine as long as it gets kids interested in reading.
If the books are well done, they can be a fabulous way to get kids interested in and comfortable with reading!
They are good if they can get kids want to read.
I think it’s great if it makes the kids want to read!
Well, we don’t have cable TV, so I’m not sure how valid my opinion is going to be. Generally speaking, I would say that I am not in favor of it. But I think it depends on the show, doesn’t it? If it is a quality program that engages your child and excites his mind, then really, what’s the harm in it? The key, as in most things, is just to be involved with your kid’s activities. That way, if he has any questions, you are right there to explain your, and presumably your huband’s, point of view.
Alicia Webster
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We don’t have cable or satellite, so we don’t get all the cool kid’s channels. I found some Sesame Street books at a second-hand store that I really like. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with tying the two together, if it works, good!
I think the two go hand in hand. Offering tie ins to a tv show or movie actually benefits both. One can get you interested in the other.
My kids really love books based on TV characters, too. And we don’t have cable. I think they are fine for young kids, but I am trying to branch out with my six year old. At this age he can tell me what types of books he likes and I can find them for him to read– and they are TV character books.
I think it is totally cool.
well most of the time I do not like them but have to say it got one of my eldest children to really start reading more- so I am in the middle
I love books with characters from Noggin & Playhouse Disney. My daughter gets so excited about the characters and we end up reading them over & over again. We don’t have any Wubbzy stuff yet, but both my girls love the show on t.v. 🙂
I have no problem with it generally as long as I know it is a show for their age level. I dislike them being introduced to shows by books which contain inappropriate content for a young child.
I likehaving the kids have their own imagination picture the characters so whne they see the character on tv, I think it takes away some.
I don’t have a problem with it. Just as long as my kids are learning the good stuff that all I want.
itr’s ok
I think it helps kids to generalize different ideas that they may have seen on tv into books into real life. Just as long as it is used properly anything can be educational. TV for babysitting is always a bad idea, but I try to sit and watch with my daughter and comment on the show as it goes and we talk about the story later and how it relates to something in real life when she is having down time to help with remembering and generalizing.
hi!!!