Reading

Cheer Up Donkey

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 2

Sarah and Duck are looking after Donkey in the back garden while Scarf Lady is at the shops, and Donkey appears sad. Sarah tries a carrot, music on her tuber and a trip to the bread shop, but nothing changes his face. They visit the library, find a book about donkeys and learn that donkeys naturally look sad even when they are happy. After a walk in the park, Duck reveals he was upset because Sarah had buried his bread for him, and Scarf Lady returns to collect a contented Donkey.

ABCs with Blue

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 2

Josh, a live-action host, and his animated puppy Blue play a game of Blue's Clues to figure out which book Blue wants to read. Across warmly colored rooms they hunt for three clues, a moon, a cow and the word jump, writing each in the handy dandy notebook and helping a neighbor with groceries along the way. Josh spells words aloud, reads picture sentences with the viewer and fixes jumbled ones like 'The ball threw a girl.' In the thinking chair he combines the clues to name the book as 'Hey Diddle Diddle', then closes with a goodbye song.

Max's Bedtime

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 2

It is bedtime for Max, a young rabbit, and his older sister Ruby helps him get ready for sleep at home. Max keeps climbing out of bed and wandering into Ruby's room to play instead of settling down. Ruby patiently brings him comfort toys, reads to him and tucks him back in again and again. The night ends with Max finally settled in his own bed.

Comic Tragedy

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 2

Jay shows his grandmother the comic book he made about a hero named Captain Graviton, then sets off to make copies at the library. When the loose pages blow away, his sister Phoebe and a friend gather them up and use the page numbers to work out which pages are missing and what order they belong in. They keep searching until every page is found and read the finished story together. The episode ends with Jay's completed comic and a plan for the siblings to make a new one together.

Trick Shot

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 2

Phoebe and Jay spend the day at the basketball court where their dad, Pete, and Cousin Craig face off in a trick-shot game called Topsy Shotsy. Phoebe coaches Craig and Jay coaches Dad, while Grandma referees and teaches the children to keep score by counting up points on the scoreboard. After a long losing streak, Dad finally wins with Jay's invented 'Topsy surprise' shot. Everyone celebrates and the two players congratulate each other with a 'Good game.'

Square's Very Kind Gesture

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

Square finds a rare banana tree with two bananas and decides to give one to his friend Circle so he can be known for a kind gesture. Each time he tries, Circle passes the spare banana on to Triangle, and Square ends up with neither the fruit nor the praise he hoped for. He waits for the tree to grow again, rehearses his plan, and keeps trying. By the end he finally eats one banana at a picnic, still weighing whether to share the other.

The Seagulls

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 2

Twin siblings Stan and Olivia want to calm down with their favourite picture book, 'The Seagull with the Bugle', in their seaside playhouse. When Olivia invites a real seagull inside, more and more birds arrive and the noise makes reading impossible. After several failed attempts to send them away, the twins decide to work together and finally quiet the flock by reading the soothing story aloud. The episode ends with the birds calm and the game of chase from the opening picked up again.

Home with Herb

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 2

Harvey the dog promises to look after Herb, a small plant belonging to his friend Alan. When Herb keeps looking sad, Harvey and his friends Jack and Ginger try squeaky toys, a trip to the playground, and books about what plants need, but nothing works. They finally realise Herb is only happy when he is held, and Alan returns with a special holder so Harvey can keep him close. A short closing segment follows Harvey singing about all the things he is thankful for.

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 2

Ms. Linda introduces and reads aloud the picture book 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle. A tiny caterpillar hatches from an egg and eats through more food each day of the week, then overeats a feast of rich treats on Saturday and gets a stomachache. After eating a green leaf he feels better, grows large, forms a cocoon, and comes out as a butterfly. The host closes with a short note about eating well and an invitation to read more stories.

Jack's Kindness Story

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

In this live-action episode, host Jack visits the Hummingbird Cafe, where young Olivia decides to make a homemade book to make her Uncle Theo laugh. With Jack's help she builds the book from paper, a folder and crayons and draws a silly squirrel story, but the wind scatters and ruins the pages around town. Neighbours help gather them, and when the book cannot be saved, Olivia performs the story aloud instead, with Jack acting out the pictures. Uncle Theo laughs, they share a hug, and others are inspired to make books for people they care about.

Steam Bath Ch'oondaii

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 2

Molly, an Alaska Native girl, wants to help her mother recover from a cold so she can pass the annual medical exam she needs to keep flying. With advice from Auntie Midge and her mom, Molly and her friend set out to build a traditional steam bath, first trying shop-style instructions, then realising those don't fit their village or their age and returning to Auntie Midge for the traditional willow-frame method. They gather volcanic rocks with Grandpa Nat's help, build the bath in clear steps, and the warm steam helps mom breathe and feel close to her own mother. The episode closes with a short 'Ask Molly' segment exploring real Alaska Native houses at a heritage center.

The Great Qyah Cleanup

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 2

In the Alaska Native village of Qyah, Molly helps with the spring cleanup after winter. When Mr. Rowley's grill turns up broken and missing a part, Molly uses the instruction manual to reassemble it, then goes looking for litter with a friend and finds a mystery piece. After asking several neighbors what it is, she realizes it is the grill's missing regulator dial, which had fallen from her bag and been used as a scarecrow's face out at the dump. She retrieves it, the grill works, and the community cookout goes ahead.

Tusk, Tusk, and More Tusk

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 2

Molly and her friends Tooey and Trini discover a large tusk buried in the mud near the river in their Alaska village. Grandpa Nat and an archaeologist named Olin Benedict identify it as a woolly mammoth tusk and explain the Ice Age, permafrost, and how the warming climate erodes the riverbank. The children help free the tusk through trial and error, measure it, photograph it, and give it the Gwich'in name 'Trilzok', meaning gentle. The episode ends with a separate live-action segment where children visit a museum to learn whether dinosaurs once lived in Alaska.

The Magic Ring

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 4

At school, Dora, Naya and Pablo are reading stories about ancient treasure to younger children when Pablo finds an old ring in the garden and shrinks to thumb size after putting it on. They match the glyphs on the ring against library books and learn that only placing it on Princess Xochitl's finger will break the spell, so all three shrink and travel through a tiny door into an ancient kingdom. With help from a mouse they dodge a greedy wizard and his cat, cross a puddle on a giant duck and climb up to the sleeping princess. The wizard's theft is exposed at his hut, the ring goes back on the princess's finger, and Pablo returns to school full-size with a medal and a story to tell.

Petey the Stargazer

recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

Petey, a boy who loves stargazing, decides aliens must not be real after a supposed UFO turns out to be a blimp. His friends Goldie and Romeo, unwilling to let him lose that wonder, secretly stage crop circles, a homemade UFO and an alien visitor named Zor-Zor, and soon the whole town of Boysenburg prepares a welcome. When Petey discovers it was all his friends' doing, he decides that having friends like them means anything is possible and keeps believing. The segment ends with the group back at their telescopes and a short teaser for the next story.