Thursday, March 16, 2006

A Diversity of Opinions

A review of the Backyardigans from someone who has absolutely nothing good to say about it. This woman really hates the Backyardigans.

The Backyardigans- I Think There are Some Subliminal Messages Involved

This woman sees it entirely differently.

Travel the World with The Backyardigans!

Personally, I've always found that The Backyardigans inspires my children to try all sorts of new imaginative play.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

New Shoes For Your Little Backyardigan

If you have been anxiously looking for Backyardigans shoes for your child, you've probably been told to try Kohl's. If you're willing to wait until July, however, you'll be able to find a bigger selection!

Nickelodeon and Brown Shoes have teamed up to put out four new lines of shoes, two of which are based on Nick Jr. shows, specifically Go Diego Go and The Backyardigans. (The other two shows are Unfabulous and Zoey 101, Nickelodeon shows.)

According to the press release the lines "include a full assortment of casual shoes, boots, sport fusion athletic shoes and slippers." The Diego shoes will be for boys; the Backyardigans shoes will be made for boys and girls both. They will be available for ages 2-6.

I couldn't find any pictures unfortunately, nor could I find anything about where the shoes might be carried. But I'll get you more information as it comes in!

Monday, March 13, 2006

New Look

This should be easier to read than the old layout. I hope you like it! Let me know how it works for you.

Friday, March 10, 2006

More Backyardigans Coloring Pages

Nick Jr. is offering a new Backyardigans printable coloring page as a member exclusive. It is Austin in the Race Around the World. Signing up as a Nick Jr. member is free.

I also finally found some more Backyardigans coloring pages! These are from the UK Nick Jr. site, which I should have thought to check earlier. I don't think any of these are repeats of what is found on the Nick Jr. site I posted before, but if you find any, let me know.
Pablo
Uniqua
Tyrone
Tasha
Austin

These are from Treehouse TV, the Canadian home of the Backyardigans.
Connect the Dots Backyardigan
Lyrics and Coloring Pages

Have fun coloring!

Lyrics - Mystery Lifeguard

From Surf's Up. Sung by Austin.

No one can surf Tiki Beach waves
'Til they've got rad moves a-plenty.
One or two moves just won't make it.
I'm talking five, ten or twenty.
When you are rad you will get there,
And you'll get stylishly wet there

Mystery lifeguard,
They call me mystery lifeguard
Of Tiki Beach, yo,
That's me, the mystery lifeguard.

Mystery lifeguard,
They call me mystery lifeguard
Of Tiki Beach, yo,
That's me, the mystery lifeguard.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

My child, the Backyardigans author

Remember last November, when I posted about finding a Backyardigans Make Your Own Little Golden Book? Well, I've finally found out more and it's not at all what I thought it might be.

According to the Random House website, "Children will love making their very own book Little Golden Book with colorful crayons, markers, and Backyardigans stencils and stickers!"

Sooo. I still can't say I really understand what they're doing here, but it sounds very interesting! We'll find out more, I'm sure, as it comes closer to July (when this book is being released.)

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Holding Tight

Well, I'm just kind of sitting around this week, waiting for Netflix to send me a copy of Cave Party. Which I am wishing would get here today, because I have two very sick little people here, who are exceedingly grumpy and cranky. It would be nice to have something new, for the purposes of distraction.

Although this has been a big week for new programming on Nick Jr. Has anyone seen Wonderpets yet? My kids love it, but I can't say I'm so thrilled. I've tried before this to learn to enjoy opera, and just haven't been able to. Wonderpets seems to incorporate all the things that irritate me about opera. I'm tempted to start wearing earplugs to keep from hearing one more repetition of, "This is sewious!"

Only 2 more days until Race Around the World airs!

Monday, March 06, 2006

Lyrics - Who's There?

In honor of this week's release of Cave Party, here's a song from Castaways (one of the episodes on that DVD.)

Sung by Uniqua, Pablo and Tyrone.

All: Who's there? Who's there?
Who's over there?
Who, who, who?
Who's there? Who's there?
Who's over there?
Who, who, who?

Uniqua: If we follow this string we'll find out who's been
helping us out with everything!
Tyrone: The vines and the leaves,
the rocks and the wood;
Pablo: Someone's been hanging in our neighborhood!

All: Who's there? Who's there?
Who's over there?
Who, who, who?
Who's there? Who's there?
Who's over there?
Who, who, who?

Uniqua: I see some footprints
Pablo: Going over the sand,
Tyrone: Soon we'll find out
All: Who's here on our land.
Tyrone: The coconuts and rocks,
Pablo: The big ball of string,
Uniqua: We'll finally find out who did everything!

All: Who's there? Who's there?
Who's over there?
Who, who, who?
Who's there? Who's there?
Who's over there?
Who, who, who?

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Remaining DVDs

Since curious people have been looking for this information, I thought I'd put it up where everyone can find it.

There are two Backyardigans DVDs left to be released. Between them, they have the final eight of the first 20 episodes. Both are available for preorder through Amazon and, I'm sure, several other places.


Release Date: March 7, 2006
Episodes: Cave Party, Race Around The World, Eureka, Castaways


Release Date: May 30, 2006
Episodes: Surf's Up, The Quest For the Flying Rock, Riding The Range, Race To The Tower Of Power

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Healthy Food Messages

As a parent, I appreciate that the creators of the Backyardigans make a point of having the kids going for healthy snacks at the end of almost every show. (There has been the occasional cookie or brownie.) It seems like every time I take my kids into the store I have to drag them past display after display of junk food, all of it right at their eye level. They're always begging for juice, candy, cookies, "rabbit milk" (Quik), sugary cereal, you name it.

I offer better alternatives - yogurt, cheese cubes, peanut butter and celery, raisins, etc., but all too often I find myself in the position of having to play Mean Mommy with a simple, firm "No." And then, of course, cope with the resulting temper tantrums and weeping fits. It helps that I can suggest a "Backyardigans snack" to my kids every now and then.

Which is why I find it interesting that Viacom, the corporation that owns Nick Jr., is getting sued by a group concerned by the amount of advertising that is thrown at young children, such as the target audience of the Backyardigans.

The lawsuit is aimed primarily at the "junk food" ads and Kellogg has been named as a defendant as well as Viacom. The plaintiffs are the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood, and parents Andrew Leong and Sherri Carlson.

According to a FAQ on the Commercial-Free Childhood website, in 28 hours of watching Nickelodeon there were 168 food commercials, of which 148 (88%) were for foods that had little (or no) nutritional value. Nick.com and Nickjr.com are also attacked for the amount of junk food advertising they carry.

(I swear I've only ever bought one box of Backyardigan fruit snacks for the kids. Honest!)

I remember reading last fall about the Backyardigans being used on supermarket bags of carrots. I can't say I've seen any. Neither have I seen them on any containers of hummus, despite Tyrone's fondness for the stuff. In fact, I think I can confidently predict that as more Backyardigans merchandise comes out we will see lots of sugary treats, but little or no healthy stuff.

And that's too bad. Because I can guarantee they'd have at least one mom ready to buy bags of apples and boxes of raisins that feature our favorite characters. Come on, Viacom. There's got to be some money for you in making it easier for parents to coax their kids into healthy snacks.