recommended

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Excellent, smart action film.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

I watched Between the Lions when I was little and I loved it, as did my older sister. It was a lot like Sesame Street, but just about reading and language. My favorite segment was always Cliff Hanger, I loved that it was a pun and that they had a cartoon portion on a show that was mostly puppets. I was a pretty good reader as far as I can remember, but I learned new words and phrases from watching this show. It is very educational and entertaining for kids up to age 8. It teaches kids about the essence of stories, not just how to read. It teaches about plot devices (like Cliff Hanger!) and reading comprehension. Now it's been a long time since I watched this show, but my mom allowed me to watch it and therefore it cannot be as obnoxious as some people say it is (I was not allowed to watch Spongebob for the sole reason that my mother thought it was annoying). I think it's a good quality show and it's nice that it focuses entirely on reading, instead of trying to cram a million lessons into one half-hour episode. Kids should watch this before starting kindergarten to get a nice head start.

That being said, I am of the opinion that "BTL" is also functional. I live in a state where the public school system has abandoned phonics. Instead, the children are given lists of words to memorize. What I appreciate about this show is that it teaches children how to read. My 4-year old (who is now 8, in 2nd grade and reads on a 5th/6th grade level) learned that letters make sounds and that putting sounds together makes words. That turned out to be an invaluable lesson for him and, later, for my next child (who doesn't begin K-5 until the fall, but already reads 1st grade books). As inane as some of it is (the Cliff Hanger skit is incredibly stupid) if children can pick up the basic tools of phonics, I will support it.

When I was a kid all I ever wanted to watch was Electric Company. Seeing past episodes of it now, I kind of laugh and think it is silly, but it served its purpose. The whole reason behind the show is to teach pre-reading skills. The best way for most children to learn initially when they are pre-school age is through repetition. The characters are lovable, children will attach easily to them, which will also help to increase pre-reading skills. In this day and age reading starts so much earlier in school systems it's nice to have a show that is trying to help specifically with this task. Sesame Street is up there too it just isn't focused solely on reading. Some of my favorite Muppet voices are in this show: Moakley from Fraggle Rock among them. I love this show and think that it is a must to have in the household and my children both love it. Including Cliffhanger. However, their favorite is Chicken Jane. It's a FUN show.

Let me start by saying that I have a child. I have read comments from several people either praising the show or hating it. And I fall in the category of liking it. The skits are childish but it's what helps keep child interested in the program. Since you may notice that children these days tend to have short attention spans or be more interested in video games instead of a book or informative programs. My only complaint these days is that there hasn't been very many shows like this out there. These days there are only repeats .Which sort of annoy my child.But it ends of giving us time to stop and read a book and bond. We only hope that PBS will have new programs that keep kids interested in reading.Not just the annoying bright colors and creatures and make odd noises...