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The Tortoise and the Hare

Sufficient

Recommended age Unlock

Co-watching from age 2

Stimulating

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PBS Kids

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The Tortoise and the Hare

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This program is well-balanced. It remains mostly easy to follow and process. It is a good fit for the recommended age. The pacing is calm. A child has time to watch and understand what is happening. The sound is clearly present and regularly draws attention. The visuals are calm and well-organized.

The episode holds to one clear storyline: the Super Readers enter the tortoise and the hare book to settle a friendly disagreement about how to win a race. Events follow a recognizable beginning, middle and end, and cause and effect is easy to track, since ringing a bell wakes the sleeping hare and changing the word 'runs' to 'stops' makes him pause to help. A fair amount of new material arrives for a three-year-old, because the story keeps adding letters, words and reading tasks on top of the plot. The heavy repetition of each task helps keep it followable.

The emotional tone stays warm and steady. Conflict is gentle: Princess Pea and Red simply disagree about tactics, and the hare's boasting is good-natured rather than unkind. The few worried moments, the hare falling asleep and the tortoise getting stuck on his back, are resolved right away with reassurance and help, so worry never lingers. Characters encourage each other with lines like 'way to go, super readers' and treat one another with respect.

Problem-solving is visible and shown step by step. The characters name the problem, look for an answer in a book, test an idea and adjust it: when the word 'sings' does not help the upside-down tortoise, they try 'stops' instead and check whether it works. They take initiative themselves, deciding to call the team, wake the hare and rewrite the story, and the reasoning links clearly to outcomes, such as noticing the hare grew tired because he raced too hard. Much of the work is framed through magic powers rather than ordinary effort, which softens how independently a child could copy it.

Language is mostly clear and concrete, with simple words like 'fast', 'slow', 'jump' and 'win' and explicit naming of letters and sounds. The reading focus means words are used purposefully and consistently, and the speech is easy to follow. Some richer words appear, such as 'fragrant', 'splendid' and 'spectacular', which stretch a little beyond a three-year-old. A good share of the talk is single-word chants and letter call-outs rather than full sentences, which suits this age but keeps the sentence structure simple.

The literacy activities, naming letters, singing the alphabet and spelling words, are skills a child can practice in real life, and the lesson about enjoying the game and helping a friend connects to everyday relationships. The catch is that almost everything sits inside a fantasy frame: talking animals, magic spelling wands, flying into books and a super computer. For a three-year-old, who benefits most from mostly realistic situations, that thick layer of make-believe limits how directly the actions carry over off screen. The recognizable core, a race, a disagreement and helping someone in need, is what grounds it.

More information

A small team of children leads the story: Whyatt, Red, Princess Pea and a pig called Alpha Pig, set in a storybook village where a tortoise and a hare run a race. The recurring leads show a real range of skin tones, including Princess Pea who is dark-skinned, so ethnic variation is a natural part of the cast rather than a one-off background detail. Tasks and initiative are shared fairly evenly: each child has a distinct power, everyone contributes to solving the problem, and the race ends with the hare stopping to help the stuck tortoise. Other kinds of diversity, such as different ages, body types and family setups, barely feature.

This episode sits firmly in a make-believe world: a Storybook Village of fairy tale characters, children who become flying superheroes, and magic that spells objects into being and rewrites a story's words. There is no villain anywhere; the problems come from a friendly disagreement about how to win a race and from a tortoise who ends up stuck and needs a hand, and the magic stays consistent to its own rules throughout. The fantasy holds together well, but it leans far more imaginative than the mostly realistic stories that suit the youngest viewers, so the blend fits a little older than the recommended age. Everyday touches like a park sack race and singing the alphabet keep it partly grounded.

Super Why is built for the child watching, not the adult beside them, so there is little wordplay or layered humor to catch a parent's ear. The embedded fable gives the episode a genuine story with a small twist, but it sits inside a fixed routine of collecting letters and consulting the 'super duper computer' that repeats throughout. Voices stay pleasant and the palette is soft, though the repeated chants and looping segments grow tiresome on a second listen. The animation is clean and consistent with a clear sound mix, even if the movement is stiff and the settings stay simple.

Themes

Reading

Central

The Super Readers collect letters and spell words such as 'go' and 'bell' to move the story forward

Fairy tales

Central

The plot is built around the classic tale of the tortoise and the hare, read from a storybook

Winning & losing

The whole episode centers on a potato sack race and the friends learning to 'enjoy the game' and have fun together rather than worrying about who wins.

Competition

Recurring

A potato sack race frames the episode and a tortoise and hare race runs through the book

Learning to work together

Wyatt, Princess Pea, Red and Alpha Pig combine their powers as the Super Readers to solve the problem

Activities

Reading

The characters read the storybook of the tortoise and the hare page by page

Spelling

They build the words 'go' and 'bell' letter by letter with alphabet tools and a spelling wand

Singing

They sing the alphabet song together to find the right letters

Racing

A potato sack race and the tortoise and hare race are central events

Emotions

Joy

Cheering, applause and laughter run through the race and the final parade

Determination

Princess Pea and Red each insist their way will win the race

Frustration

The friends say 'double drats, we still can't decide which way to jump to win the race'

Pride

The group celebrates with 'super job, super readers' after changing the story

Behaviour

Problem solving

The Super Readers name the problem, look in a book and test words until the hare stops to help

Reading

Characters read book pages together, such as 'a tortoise and a hare get ready for a race'

Helping

The hare gives up his lead to free the stuck tortoise, saying 'you needed help and I'm here to help you'

Trial and error

They try the word 'sings' first, see it does not help, then try 'stops' instead

Social lessons

Sportsmanship

The story answer is 'enjoy the game', and the characters agree not to worry about winning

Helping others

The hare stops racing to lift the upside-down tortoise and gives him a piggyback ride

Teamwork

The Super Readers work together, saying 'together we will solve Princess Pea and Red's problem'

Conflict resolution

Princess Pea wants to jump slowly and Red wants to jump fast, and they look for a shared answer

Wyatt and his friends, the Super Readers, help Princess Pea and Red, who disagree about whether to jump fast or slow to win a potato sack race. The team jumps into the storybook of the tortoise and the hare, where they collect letters, spell words like 'go' and 'bell', and change a word in a sentence so the hare stops to help the stuck tortoise. The super story answer turns out to be 'enjoy the game'. Back in Storybook Village, the friends run their own race and have fun together, no longer worried about who wins.

Season 1

5 episodes

Super Why

Super Why

The Three Little Pigs

recommended age co-watching from 2

Wyatt and his friends, the Super Readers, are called to help Pig, who is upset because Jill keeps knocking down the buildings he makes. They jump into the Three Little Pigs book to look for an answer, collecting letters and changing words along the way, and they meet the big bad wolf. The wolf admits he is only mean because he has no one to play with, so the readers play with him and he becomes a small good wolf. The super story answer is 'friend', and Pig goes home to ask Jill to play and be friends instead.

Super Why

Super Why

Hansel and Gretel

recommended age co-watching from 2

In Storybook Village, Red has eaten one of Peter Piper's pickled peppers without asking, and Peter is upset. Wyatt and his friends transform into the Super Readers, Super Why, Wonder Red, Alpha Pig, and Princess Presto, and jump into the Hansel and Gretel book to find an answer. They follow the alphabet, spell the word 'raft' to cross a stream, and change words in the story to talk with the witch, who is angry her gingerbread house was eaten. The lesson they find is to 'ask first', so Red returns to apologise to Peter and ask for a pepper, and the friends celebrate.

Super Why

Super Why

Humpty Dumpty

recommended age co-watching from 2

Pig has finished building a backyard slide in Storybrook Village but feels too afraid to go down it. Whyatt calls the Super Readers, who transform and fly into the Humpty Dumpty book to find an answer, clearing the king's horses by matching alphabet snacks, spelling the word 'ladder', and changing a story word along the way. They collect super letters that spell the answer 'cheer'. Back at the slide, the friends cheer for Pig until he slides down on his own, no longer afraid.

Super Why

Super Why

Jack and the Beanstalk

recommended age co-watching from 2

Wyatt lives in Storybrook Village and turns into Super Why, one of four Super Readers who solve problems by jumping into storybooks. When his baby sister Joy will not stop crying, the team enters 'Jack and the Beanstalk' to learn how Jack quiets a loud, upset giant. They climb the beanstalk, collect letters and try giving the giant a snack and a drink before discovering that music is what calms him. Back home, Wyatt makes music for Joy and she settles down.

Super Why

Super Why

The Tortoise and the Hare

recommended age co-watching from 2

Wyatt and his friends, the Super Readers, help Princess Pea and Red, who disagree about whether to jump fast or slow to win a potato sack race. The team jumps into the storybook of the tortoise and the hare, where they collect letters, spell words like 'go' and 'bell', and change a word in a sentence so the hare stops to help the stuck tortoise. The super story answer turns out to be 'enjoy the game'. Back in Storybook Village, the friends run their own race and have fun together, no longer worried about who wins.

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