Preview of The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That

I received a preview of the new PBS Kids show, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, yesterday and enjoyed watching it today. The show uses the characters from Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat book to teach kids about natural science. It is full of rhymes and craziness just like the book making it a fun way for kids to learn about nature. The show is made to help preschoolers and kindergarteners to be more prepared for science curriculum. It does a good job of being educational while still fun. The show kind of reminds me Magic School Bus, but it is produced in a way that is easier for younger kids to digest than Magic School Bus. The three year old that watched it with me really did enjoy it.

The premiere episode includes "Show Me the Honey" and "Migration Vacation." The first teaches kids about how honey is made focusing on nectar being the secret ingredient. The second is about birds migrating.

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That is a good edition to the science shows that PBS has recently been adding, such as Sid the Science Kid and Dinosaur Train. I think this new show is much better than those. Sid does do a good job of being educational, but it also has too many repeating segments (driving in car song, meeting his friends) and the microphone can be downright annoying. Dinosaur Train is always fun to watch, but not much practical science for early science curriculum. The Cat in the Hat can still be annoying, but it does not seem so repetitive other than perhaps the little segments (Today's very difficult question) might end up repetitive like the Dinosaur Train's little song ones often being Tiny singing about fish.

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That will premiere on PBS on Labor Day 2010, which is September 6.