What a cute little show! The Wonder Pets are some of my son’s favorite characters on Nickelodeon right now. Currently, his favorite (and seasonally appropriate) episode is “Wonder Pets Save the Reindeer“. This cute DVD features the Wonder Pets (Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming-Ming the Duckling, and Tuck the Turtle) in a quest to save Santa’s baby reindeer who is stuck on cracking ice.

The whole premise behind all of the Wonder Pets shows is teamwork -working together to save or help a different baby animal in each episode. The Wonder Pets travel to different lands and countries and have the opportunity to encounter unique animals along the way. Each show has 2 mini episodes, averaging about 12 minutes each. Each episode is filled with music of varying genres and memorable lyrics with which your toddler can sing along. At the end of each episode, the Wonder Pets celebrate their great teamwork with a stalk of celery - and I have to tell you, this is the reason my son actually decided to try to eat celery in the first place! Thanks to the Wonder Pets, I finally am able to get my son to eat at least one vegetable - now if they would only start eating others, so that he could follow suit!

The Wonder Pets episodes are shown on Nick Jr. and they are now coming out on DVD - three DVD’s have been recently released, with two more scheduled for release in 2008. The DVDs contain several (usually 8 ) mini episodes, with a few exceptions such as the “Save the Reindeer” DVD which has a full-length episode along with 6 mini episodes.

Popularity: 6% [?]

It doesn’t take much to get tired of watching the same old kids videos over and over again. If you allow a little TV for your toddler or preschooler, then you have to check out the Backyardigans. These characters are colorful and fun, and are always singing the catchiest and coolest songs. I probably know most of their songs by heart and absolutely love singing along with them when they come on TV or when we pop in the DVD.

Each Backyardigans episode features a “theme” music, ranging from swing to zydeco. The music is very well written with great harmonies, and the lyrics are cute and catchy. The premise of the Backyardigans is that of friends playing pretend in their backyards, and they come up with wonderful stories to go along with their great singing and dancing. My son’s favorites have to be “Mission to Mars” and “The Legend of the Volcano Sisters”. Every time he watches these episodes he sings and dances along - and at age 2 knows what a luau is, can show me a volcano, and knows about outer space and the planet Mars (and martians, of course!).

The Backyardigans shows are frequently shown on Nick, Jr. and they also can be bought on DVD, with each DVD having 4 episodes each. Many retail stores carry the Backyardigans DVDs and they can also be purchased on Amazon.

Popularity: 5% [?]