A new 3-D animated television show to teach children in Pre-K and kindergarten learn how to read is set to air on PBS this upcoming Labor Day, and it sounds good on paper. In one episode, a pig promises to save a pie to share with his friends, but the pig struggles to overcome the urge to eat the pie. Fortunately, he discovers he can create “pies” if he just adds an “s,” and soon there is enough pie for everyone.

I hope this television show is well produced and well received. Television is often shunned in education circles, but by taking that tack, we may be missing out on some redeeming qualities. The best readers visualize what they read, whereas struggling readers often miss comprehension as they are too busy word calling. If television can help young children make the connection between words and pictures, it will help with fluency and comprehension. The concept of making it easy for struggling readers to connect words and pictures is the concept we had in mind when we created the online, animated Raz-Kids talking books.