Curious George Celebrates Mother's Day - Latin Style

We have a pretty strict TV schedule in this house. In fact, the only thing my kids are allowed to watch is PBS - and even then they are only allowed few select shows on the occasional afternoon. You already know that Word Girl and Wild Kratts are, of course, "must-see" shows in our animal/book-loving home. And the other show is Curious George. Ever since both of my kids were pequeninos, they have been avid fans of of this monito tan curioso. When she was younger, my daughter used to close her eyes tight and run out of the room whenever she got scared that George was going to get into trouble (and he always does), but would peek around the corner out of curiosity to see exactly what he was up to. And I think that the reason that I love George, is because he has been around ever since I was a kid (and that's a long time, I'm here to tell you!)

Although my kids are older now, the still love this little monkey, and on Saturday mornings, will quietly sneak into the living room to watch him while mami gets an extra 30 minutes of sleep!

So we were especially excited when last week I received a special advance screening of the new Curious George® episode premiering this coming Friday, May 6th. But we were even more delighted to discover that the episode, "Mother's Day Surprise!" celebrated Mother's Day - LATIN style! In it, George is helping his amigo, Marco, set up a surprise party for his mami. With the help of Marco's sister (and of course, the Man with the Yellow Hat - What IS his name?!?!) George and Marco make a piñata in the shape of Huddley, the dog, and other decorations. Having made our own piñatas before, both my kids were excited to watch one of their favorite TV characters do the same. Take a look...



In addition to the preview DVD, our screening party package also included two bilingual books featuring Curious George, a magnet, seed packet, pinwheel activity booklet, and a packet of microwavable popcorn. My daughter quickly snatched these up and sat down to read them to my son. The books were: Curious George Plants a Seed/Jorge el curioso siembra una semilla and Curious George at the Baseball Game/Jorge el curioso en el partido de béisbol.

Now, if you'd like to watch this sweet episode of Curious George, it will air Friday on PBS Kids. And in the days leading up to it, you can watch more adventures that Jorge el curioso has with his amigo, Marco. You can also visit Curious George's website to find printables, video clips, and games. In fact, soon you'll be able to help George and Marco choose a piñata, decorate it, and then WHACK it to break it open and get all the treats inside. The game will allow your child to learn the Spanish words for numbers, colors, etc.

(Incidentally, the Executive Producer for Curious George, Dorothea Gillim, is also the creator of Word Girl - our favorite show of all time. And so, I think that Ms. Gillim may also be my favorite producer of all time!)

If you follow me on Facebook, then you know that PBS is launching another new series called Noah Comprende, where kids can learn Spanish. I have noticed PBS has been looking to celebrate Hispanic Heritage more and more. And this is yet one more reason why I, for one, love this station.

Bien hecho, PBS.

Disclosure: As I stated in the post above, I did receive a screening party package, which I shared with my children to see their response. As usual, all the opinions expressed here are strictly my own.