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Stuck in the Rain

In this episode

This episode is one video with 2 short stories. Each story gets its own review and score.

Very good

Recommended age Unlock

Co-watching from age 2

Calming

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Apple TV+

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Stuck in the Rain

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This program feels calm and predictable. It gives room to watch and process. For the recommended age, this may feel calm or somewhat slow. The pacing is moderate. The story remains easy for a child to follow. The sound is clearly present and regularly draws attention. The visuals are calm and well-organized.

The episode follows a single clear thread: Michael is upset that rain cancelled his baseball game, and Stillwater helps him see the day differently. A story within the story, about a gardener who removes the bees and then loses all her fruit, mirrors that same idea so the two never compete for attention. Events build in order toward a satisfying close, and cause and effect is easy to follow, such as how taking the bees away means nothing grows. A child can hold the whole story in mind from beginning to end.

Emotionally this is a safe, steadying watch. Stillwater meets Michael's frustration with patience and reflects it back to him, saying 'I can see how that must be frustrating for you,' so the boy feels heard rather than corrected. No one is mocked or belittled, and the grown-up figures stay consistent and kind throughout. The small worries in the story, like the gardener's fear of being stung, are gently resolved, leaving a child reassured.

There is a genuine learning process here. The gardener tries a solution, sees it backfire when no fruit grows, then puts it right by inviting the bees back, a clear case of trying, failing, and adjusting. Michael makes his own connections too, realising that rain helps things grow just as the bees do. The main caveat is that Stillwater leads much of the thinking, offering the leaf boat idea and steering Michael toward each insight, so the boy follows along more than he works things out alone.

The language is clear, warm, and full of meaning. New ideas are introduced and explained in context, as when Stillwater names the habit of seeing things differently as 'perspective,' and describes how bees matter through 'no juicy tomatoes, no fat, crunchy cucumbers.' Sentences are complete and well formed, and most of the talk gives information or describes rather than filling space. A few words sit on the richer end for the youngest children in this range, but the meaning always comes through from the situation.

The episode connects closely to everyday life. It teaches something true about the world, that bees help fruit and vegetables grow, and it models simple play a child can copy, like floating leaf boats down a stream of rainwater or splashing in mud puddles. The relationships are familiar too, with siblings, a neighbour, and a comforting mentor. The one step away from reality is Stillwater, a panda who talks and lives next door, which fits comfortably at this age within a world that is otherwise grounded and real.

More information

This episode follows a family of children and their mother, with warm tan skin tones that do not lean on a white default, alongside the wise panda Stillwater and a storybook tale of animals tending a garden. Both girls and boys take part, the children share initiative and play, and the boy is free to show sadness and frustration without it being treated as unusual. The world stays small, though: one home and a garden, a single caregiver on screen, and no disability or broader variety of families or backgrounds. The result is a fairly balanced picture whose breadth is held back by its contained setting.

This episode stays close to a child's real world, a rainy day stuck at home, a backyard garden, bees and honey on toast, with the one imagined touch being Stillwater, a panda who talks and gently guides Michael toward seeing the rain differently. There is no villain anywhere; the only tension comes from Michael's frustration over a canceled game and from a gardener who learns she actually needs the bees she once feared. The light fantasy stays consistent, and the mix of ordinary life with a single calm animal mentor fits a five-year-old well. The result is a grounded, reassuring story about perspective with no scary or confusing make-believe.

This is one of the calmer things you can have on while a child watches. The animation is polished, and the inner folk tale, told in a painted storybook style, is genuinely good to look at, while the soft voices and slow pace stay easy on adult ears. The nested story about a gardener and her bees gives you a real arc to follow, and the theme of perspective carries a quiet bit of wisdom. There is no humor aimed at grown-ups, so you are appreciating it rather than laughing along, but it almost never grates.

Themes

Weather

Central

The whole episode centres on a rainy summer day, opening with Michael saying 'Oh, rain. It ruins everything.'

Emotional regulation

Central

Stillwater helps Michael shift from frustration to enjoyment by naming the idea of 'perspective.'

Nature

Stillwater describes a raindrop's journey from China and the parable explains how bees pollinate a garden.

Overcoming fear

Odette the gardener removes the bees out of fear of being stung, then learns to welcome them back.

Problem solving

Michael works out that rain has good sides, like helping plants grow, just like the bees in the story.

Disappointment

Michael is downcast that his baseball game got cancelled and says he was really looking forward to today.

Story time

Stillwater tells Michael the tale of the gardener and the bee as one of his favourites.

Curiosity

Odette is described as a very curious gardener who follows a bee to find its home.

Siblings

Michael's siblings Addy and Karl notice Stillwater sitting in the rain and play alongside him.

Activities

Storytelling

Stillwater narrates the parable of the gardener and the bee to Michael.

Playing

Michael, his siblings and Stillwater splash and play in the rain.

Racing

Michael and Stillwater float leaf boats and race them down a stream of rainwater.

Gardening

Odette tends one of the finest gardens for miles around, growing fruit and vegetables.

Outdoor play

The children jump into mud puddles together once the rain stops bothering them.

Watching animals

Odette observes hundreds of bees living inside the fallen log.

Emotions

Calm

Stillwater speaks in a slow, steady voice and sits peacefully in the rain throughout.

Frustration

Michael complains that you can't do anything fun when it rains.

Disappointment

Michael is glum that his baseball game was cancelled.

Wonder

Stillwater imagines each raindrop's long journey and welcomes them to his garden.

Curiosity

Odette is curious enough to follow a bee to its hidden home.

Joy

The children and Stillwater laugh and cheer while playing in the rain at the end.

Fear

Odette frets 'So many bees. What if I were to be stung?'

Behaviour

Explaining

Stillwater explains pollination and the meaning of perspective through the gardener story.

Comforting

Stillwater patiently reassures Michael and validates his feelings about the cancelled game.

Expressing feelings

Michael openly says the rain ruins everything and that he was looking forward to his game.

Helping

Michael bundles up and brings Stillwater an umbrella, saying 'I need to do something.'

Investigating

Odette follows a bee to discover the hive inside a fallen log.

Admitting mistakes

Odette realises taking the bees away was a terrible mistake once nothing grows.

Playing

Michael and Stillwater race leaf boats down a rivulet and jump in mud puddles.

Taking initiative

Odette calls on a beekeeper friend to act on her bee problem.

Social lessons

Emotional support

Stillwater listens to Michael and helps him reframe his disappointment with patience.

Mentorship

Stillwater guides Michael toward a new way of thinking, calling him 'very perceptive.'

Learning from mistakes

Odette recognises her error in removing the bees and invites them back.

Helping others

Michael brings Stillwater an umbrella because he noticed the panda had none.

Friendship

Stillwater and the neighbouring children share warm, easy company in his garden.

Sibling relationship

Addy calls her sibling over to look at Stillwater, and the children play together.

Michael is disappointed when rain cancels his baseball game, so his neighbour Stillwater, a wise panda, shows him another way to see the day. Stillwater explains that he treats the rain as a raincoat and tells the story of Odette, a gardener who removes the bees from her garden and then loses all her fruit. Michael takes the lesson to heart, realises rain helps things grow, and starts having fun racing leaf boats and jumping in puddles. The episode closes with the children playing happily in the rain.

Season 1

10 episodes

Stillwater

Stillwater

The Impossible Dream

recommended age co-watching from 2

A boy named Carl is building a spaceship from boxes, boards and odds and ends he borrows from his neighbour Stillwater, a panda who lives next door. When Carl's brother and sister insist the spaceship will never fly, Stillwater tells him the story of Joku, a farmer who refused to believe it was impossible to catch the sun. Encouraged, Carl decides to keep trying and lowers his sights to getting just a little way up. The episode ends with Carl, Addy and Michael taking turns on a pretend flight, thrilled that it feels like the spaceship is really soaring.

Stillwater

Stillwater

Stuck in the Rain

recommended age co-watching from 2

Michael is disappointed when rain cancels his baseball game, so his neighbour Stillwater, a wise panda, shows him another way to see the day. Stillwater explains that he treats the rain as a raincoat and tells the story of Odette, a gardener who removes the bees from her garden and then loses all her fruit. Michael takes the lesson to heart, realises rain helps things grow, and starts having fun racing leaf boats and jumping in puddles. The episode closes with the children playing happily in the rain.

Stillwater

Stillwater

Gift of Compassion

recommended age co-watching from 2

Addy is frustrated that her younger brother Carl will not share a new marble-maze game, so she calms herself with deep breathing and visits her neighbour Stillwater, a giant panda. He plays a Chinese flute, scoops leaves from his pond, and tells her the story of Master Chu, who keeps saving a scorpion from the river even after it stings her. Addy realises she should try a different approach with Carl, and instead of taking the game she offers to play it together with him. The two cooperate, steering the maze ball side by side, while Stillwater is heard trying something new of his own.

Stillwater

Stillwater

Larger Than Life

recommended age co-watching from 2

Carl, a young boy, spends all his birthday money on a toy robot he imagines will be fifty feet tall and able to shoot light beams. When the package arrives it holds only a small robot, and Carl is deeply disappointed. His neighbor Stillwater, a panda, tells him a story about his friend Dahlia, who planted melon seeds, grew pumpkins by mistake, and turned them into a pie everyone loved. Carl decides he can still have fun with the robot in a different way and plays imaginative adventures with Addy and the others.

Stillwater

Stillwater

Soaked

recommended age co-watching from 2

Two brothers, Carl and Michael, accidentally soak their sister Addy with water balloons and knock her freshly baked cupcakes into the mud, then hide because they fear she will be angry. Their neighbor, a panda named Stillwater, finds them and, while they help him pull weeds, tells a story about a gardener named Arjun who kept putting off a small task until it grew impossible. The brothers realize hiding will not help and apologize to Addy, who forgives them and shares a new batch of cupcakes. The episode ends with everyone playing together with water balloons.

Stillwater

Stillwater

A Perfect Fit

recommended age co-watching from 2

In this Stillwater story, young Carl wants to help his older siblings Michael and Addy build a soapbox racer but feels useless when his offers to help keep getting turned down. Their panda neighbour Stillwater visits with lemonade and tells Carl a fable about Hannah and her cracked water pot, which secretly waters a path of flowers. Encouraged that everyone has a gift, Carl helps pick hard-to-reach lemons, names the racer, and discovers he is just the right size to drive it. The episode ends with Carl steering the finished racer down a hill while his siblings cheer.

Stillwater

Stillwater

Downward Dog

recommended age co-watching from 2

Michael spends the weekend pet-sitting the neighbour's dog, Yuko, with big plans to become her best friend. When Yuko prefers playing with his younger brother Carl, Michael feels left out, until the panda neighbour Stillwater shares a story about Dario, a mouse who learns the joy of giving. Michael realises that keeping Yuko safe and happy, and sharing the fun with Carl, is what good pet-sitting is about. The episode closes with the whole group heading out for a walk together.

Stillwater

Stillwater

The Sleeping Moon

recommended age co-watching from 2

Three siblings and their panda neighbor Stillwater set up a backyard party to watch a lunar eclipse. Just as the moon starts to darken, clouds roll in and hide the best part, leaving the children disappointed. Stillwater helps them talk about how the letdown feels and tells a story about a woman named Antonia and a songbird that visits her garden and then flies away for good. The children realize the evening was still worth it, hand out the moon pops, and close the night with shadow puppets and a song.

Stillwater

Stillwater

The Race

recommended age co-watching from 2

Addy prepares for a cross-country race with help from her panda neighbour Stillwater and her siblings. She runs hard but loses to Asha, the fastest runner, and feels there is nothing to celebrate. Stillwater tells a version of The Tortoise and the Hare in which the tortoise races against himself, and Addy realises she set a personal best time. The siblings celebrate with smoothies and Asha comes over to congratulate her.

Stillwater

Stillwater

Dressed Up

recommended age co-watching from 2

Carl is convinced his favourite shirt has shrunk, so he goes to see his panda neighbour Stillwater, who is practising Tai Chi in the garden. As they move and talk, Carl slowly realises the shirt did not shrink, he has grown. Stillwater tells him the story of Nani, a hermit crab who learns to leave her outgrown shell for a new one. In the end Carl accepts a bigger hand-me-down shirt from his brother Michael and joins Stillwater for one last Tai Chi move.

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From this series Stillwater

By age 5 years

By platform Apple TV+

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