With the upcoming release of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, the Tim Burton-directed adaptation of the classic story, Alice’s adventure and tea party is fresh on our minds.
In fact, another whimsical adaptation of Alice in Wonderland has us seeing the Cheshire Cookie Cat, the Grouch of Hearts and a fuzzy red rabbit.
Wait, what?
The always-precocious fairy-in-training, Abby Cadabby, stars in Abby in Wonderland, the Sesame Street version of this classic tale. In this re-release from Warner Home Video and Sesame Workshop, along with Elmo and several friends, Abby dreams that she takes a journey down a rabbit hole and bumps into some familiar friends along the way.
The kid, who is way too young for the latest Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, has fallen in love with Abby in Wonderland. Over the past week or so since receiving the review copy, we have watched Abby in Wonderland nonstop. It’s a 30-minute primer to the storybook classic that cutely incorporates a few Sesame Street characters who play Alice in Wonderland characters, and even has Abby and Elmo singing a few sweet tunes. This watered down version of Alice in Wonderland is a great alternative for preschoolers, especially those who have piqued interest in the eye-catching Disney commercials. And to boot, this DVD release comes with 5-song CD that features a few favorite Sesame Street hits.
Abby in Wonderland, the Sesame Street adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, goes on sale March 2, 2010but of course, I have a copy for one NKT reader.
To win a copy of Abby in Wonderland, comment below and tell me who your favorite Alice in Wonderland character is and why.
For extra entries, share about this giveaway on any social media site and comment below. Sign up for the NKT newsletter below and get 2 extra entries. (If you’re already a subscriber, invite a friend to subscribe.) Please leave a comment for every entry.
This contest will end this Friday, March 5, 2010 at midnight. The winner will be chosen by random.org and will then be notified by email.
Yesterday, our First Lady, Michelle Obama, unveiled the nationwide campaign Let’s Move, which aims to tackle childhood obesity. This campaign is geared to engage every sector that impacts the health of our kids, giving schools, families and communities the tools to help everyone be more active, eat better and get healthy.
Mrs. Obama unofficially initiated this campaign when she broke ground on the White House organic Garden last year. In a NYT article, Mrs. Obama said, the main purpose of the garden will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become a national concern.
Soon after, Mrs. Obama appeared on an episode of Sesame Street touting the importance of fruits and vegetables, as well as healthy eating habits.
The Let’s Move Campaign will emphasize four major facets, all of which underline the changes needed to combat childhood obesity:
I’m not sure if you’re aware, but today is America’s favorite fuzzy red monster’s birthday.
Yup, Elmo turns 3 today (again, I know!) Happy Birthday, big guy!
In honor of Elmo’s birthday, I thought I’d mention this new app released by Sesame Workshop, which just so happens to feature the birthday boy himself.
Elmo’s Monster Maker App, which is now available on iTunes, is an app where kids of all ages can create their own monster. With all the different body parts, the choices are limitless as to how many unique monsters can be created. With this app, kids become more aware of several different body parts, with a little Sesame Street-style creativity.
Just a few short weeks ago, thousands of techy types convened in Vegas for The Consumer Electronics Show. This year, more than ever, Moms had a presence at CES. The industry trade show even had a summit focused on mom consumers called Mommy Tech. As cringe-inducing as the name may be, it’s true Moms, we are yet again a demographic that companies hope to woo.
If you’re reading this, or perhaps if you tweeted, texted or Facebooked at some point in the day. YOU are the market that Mommy Tech encompasses. In a report released by BabyCenter.com, they found that Moms want tech, not toys. The report, called The 21st Century Mom, Tech Mom is a 36-pg report that essentially divulges the stats that we all confirm, what with our arsenal of gadgets, social media prowess and the role the internet plays in our daily life.
Technology, especially in regards to managing our home life, is hot. And because I focus primarily on kid products, I wanted to mention a few findings from CES.
In case you haven’t heard, Sesame Street celebrated its 40th birthday yesterday! NYC proclaimed November 10 Sesame Street day, not only that, but they added Sesame Street to the NYC map (temporarily) were all over the news, and all over this blog too!
It’s hard not to notice just how much this children’s tv show is loved, what with the media frenzy all day and week. But one of my favorite ways that the world celebrated Sesame Street was with the various characters gracing the homepage of Google over the past week!
As the research geek, I’ve loved having the Sesame Street Gang greet me with each visit to Google! In case you missed them or want to enjoy them again, the Google has them all listed here and are available for download! I love the characters from other countries. I mean, how can you not?
Here’s to 40 more years of Sesame Street! (ah, ah, ah!!)
October 20 was a sunny day for me. In fact, the clouds—yeah—-they were swept away, too.
Oh yeah, I found the way to Sesame Street.
By way of a shuttle bus, along with several other NYC parent and family-oriented bloggers, I had the unique opportunity to visit Kaufman Astoria studios, home to one of the most beloved streets in history. After we made our way over the Queensboro Bridge, we found ourselves in Astoria, Queens, which is where the studio is located. The white exterior of the studio was a definite contrast to the color and character that resides inside.
In the room where we gathered, we were greeted by some vintage Sesame Street photos, along with a few plush versions of our favorite muppets. But in addition to the familiar pictoral renderings of Sesame Street’s past, there was a blown up screenshot of a new CGI segment that features the cutest fairy in training, Abby Cadabby, as well as a few promotional posters. But it was the exclusive behind the scenes tour of THE Street that made my heart skip a beat.
Sesame Street which celebrates its 40th anniversary this month, quite simply, is an institution. The characters, storylines, songs, special guests—they’ve all moved us for generations (figuratively and literally!)
Considering they don’t offer tours to the public, to receive an invitation to see Sesame Street in action can definitely be grouped in my “awesome” life experiences.
What goes on behind the scenes at Sesame Street transcends the word, “amazing!”
To gather a group of people that talented and passionate, it’s really no wonder why the show has been around for FORTY YEARS.
The upcoming season, which premiers on PBS on November 10, will feature guest appearances by Cameron Diaz, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeff Gordon, Adam Sandler, Jimmy Fallon, Ricky Gervais, Jason Mraz, Judah Friedlander and many others. I learned that one of my faves, Jason Mraz was extremely excited about his Sesame Street experience and seemed borderline stalkerish. haha. Cute! (For the record, I probably seemed full-on stalkerish)
Beyond being loved by so many generations, what’s so fabulous about Sesame Street is, they do what they can to stay ahead of the curve. For example, inviting NYC-area bloggers and engaging with us to create that important dialogue was huge. Even further, one of the reasons Sesame Street invited bloggers was to share their latest developments, so that we, in turn, could share with our readers/followers/whom ever will listen.
A chance to hang out with Abby Cadabby and sit in Big Bird’s Nest? Um, yes, please!
To emphasize its 40th year of awesomeness in children’s media, Sesame Street upped its ante with its digital presence. In particular, their website, Sesamestreet.org, became even more child-friendly, in terms of navigation, lively graphics and interactive features. When you first log on, you’re greeted by a familiar-faced Muppet, which is sure to lure in the kidlets. You, or shall I say the kids, can create a “My Street” option to personalize their Sesamestreet.org page. But it’s the new games that stand out to me…er, I mean, the kid.
All the games are, once again, extremely child-friendly and interactive. The games can be navigated by character (so hard to choose!), theme (the fall ones are so fun and timely) and subject (we’re fans of the art games.) They can also be added to the My Street option, which gives you easy access to those games that you know and love. What I love most about the new games is that some of them are perfect for the littlest kids who don’t quite have a grasp on keyboard functionality, but show an interest in say, animals.
While I’m not one to park a teeny tiny kid in front of a computer for hours at a time, every once in awhile, it’s fun to let my 2-year old do a little click clacking for a change. With the Old McDonald game, the kid can just peck away at the keys and animals appear with each strike of the keyboard—it’s like magic!
In addition to all the games, the site has tabs for other interactive features such as Playlists and Video. We’re a dancing and singing kind of family, so I love playing the different songs to dance along with the kid. The video features are so fantastic for parents to share their love of Sesame Street with their kids. Alongside of the newer segments [Neil Patrick Harris as the Shoe Fairy is my favorite modern guest appearance video] of the shows are awesome classics, like ones with Kermit, Bert and Ernie and Cookie Monster. Just like the games, the videos and playlists can be navigated by character, theme and subject.
But Sesame Street hasn’t forgotten about the parents. On the parents tab, I love how there’s a different media for milestones [we just watched “cookie is a sometime food” under the 2 years tab] and links to all the goings on at Sesame Street. One of the newer features, however, is the inclusion of B is for Blog: Sesame Family Robinson. It’s written by Marty Robinson who plays Telly Monster and Snuffleupagus and Annie Evans, a writer for Sesame Street.
Their blog gives parents an insider’s look of a true Sesame Street family. Recently married on set, they are now the proud parents of twins, Lyra and Ripley. After meeting Marty and Annie (and their cutie twins, too) on the set, as well as during lunch, suffice it to say, Sesame Street is a family show—in more ways than one. Not only has the show spent the past four decades of making us laugh, sing and dance while talking about family-related topics, the people who make the show happen ARE one giant family. And thanks for the kind shout out, too! [Babyrific is my mama blog]
And from the bottom of my heart, it really, truly was an honor to experience the deep family bond on THE actual Sesame Street. It’s my hope that my kid will go on to share the same love of The Street with HIS kids one day.
Happy 40th Sesame Street, thanks for all the laughs, dancing, singing and Muppet fun!
Good news for fans of the street synonomous for sunny days: this fall, American Apparel and Sesame Street are collaborating to offer limited edition classic t-shirts to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. Big Bird and other Sesame Street characters will be printed as the original line drawings on American Apparel shirts.
I love the classic homage to the Sesame Street gang, yet vintage feel of this line of shirts. What’s so awesome about these shirts is that not only will the kidlets love them, but so will we. They come in both adult and kid sizes and will be available this fall.
Forty years garnered a lot of sunny days and big, big fans. I’m so excited about these and can’t wait to see more! I’m not only excited about these shirts, but I’m so excited that I’ll be going on a tour of Sesame Street next week! I’m looking forward to sharing all about that, too!
Set your DVRs for PBS at 8 p.m. tonight. Yes, I said tonight! At 8 p.m., tonight, April 1, PBS is airing a primetime special called, Coming Home. In honor of the Month of the Military Child, the Sesame Workshop tapped big stars, Queen Latifah, (my boyfriend,) John Mayer and Elmo to help convey some very special stories. The half hour special will share stories about service members who return home with injuries, visible and invisible, and also explore the heroic struggles their families face in discovering a new way of finding a “new normal.”
Sesame Workshop has spent the past two years creating outreach materials to help military families with young children cope with deployments, homecomings and changes. In 2007, the Workshop produced a PBS primetime special, When Parents are Deployed, with Cuba Gooding, Jr., which was honored with an Emmy nomination. Even though my dad is now retired and was thankfully kept out of harm’s way while in the service, I know firsthand about deployments and missing dear old Dad while he was out to sea. I applaud Sesame Workshop’s efforts in continuing this specific outreach to military families, specifically the many children who are directly affected in so many ways.
Good news for fans of the street synonomous for sunny days: this fall, American Apparel and Sesame Street are collaborating to offer limited edition classic t-shirts to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. Big Bird and other Sesame Street characters will be printed as the original line drawings on American Apparel shirts.
