This eight-time Emmy Award-winner takes young viewers on adventures that stimulate their interest in reading for pleasure and entertainment. The fast-paced, magazine-style format features on-location and up-close views of real life experiences, from gathering honey and tending bee hives to ethnic traditions of families and communities.
August
8/1 Berlioz the Bear (Show 905)
Berlioz the bear and his fellow musicians are due to play for the town ball when their bandwagon becomes stuck in a hole in the road. The surprise that saves the day is the strange buzzing in Berlioz's instrument. LeVar goes on a musical journey through New York City, meeting many musicians who call the streets their stage. Viewers go behind the scenes at The Boys Choir of Harlem and visit with the boys and their director. Viewers learn that the rhythm and energy of music draws people together.
8/4 Amazing Grace (Show 906)
Grace is a little girl who wants to be Peter Pan in the school play. She runs into obstacles because she is black and female, but refuses to give in. Actress/comedian Whoopi Goldberg, shares some of her experiences. Scenes from many of her movies and specials are shown. Meet Lauren is a successful hockey player in a sport that is typically all male. Sheila tells her story of training for a career as a boiler mechanic, and shares some of the challenges of being employed in a predominately male field.
8/5 The Furry News (Show 907)
Creating a newspaper involves many tasks as Big Bear, Rabbit, and other animals learn when they publish “The Furry News.” They share tips for publishing a newspaper and newspaper terms. Viewers find out about creating a school newspaper —from brainstorming story ideas to layout design, printing and distribution. LeVar talks about the different sections of a newspaper, the variety of newspapers that are published, and he interviews the creator of a nationally distributed comic strip, who talks about his characters and creating the strip.
8/6 Mrs. Katz and Tush (Show 908)
A long-lasting friendship develops between Lamel, a young African-American, and Mrs. Katz, a lonely Jewish widow, when Lamel presents Mrs. Katz with a scrawny kitten without a tail. LeVar visits his friend Sherry in her home and together they cook a variety of traditional Jewish foods including challah and matzo balls.Kids talk about older people in their lives who are special to them. A musical segment shows young people with their special older adults interacting together and having fun.
8/7 The Salamander Room (Show 909)
A young boy finds a salamander and thinks of the many things he can do to make a perfect home for it. LeVar visits the JungleWorld at the Bronx Zoo. Educator Noreen gives LeVar a tour and shows him the many types of animals that live there. See how JungleWorld was made by skilled artists. Watch them create trees, vines and rocks.See scientists drop a huge "raft" into the tree tops of the rainforest so they can study and discover the plants and animals of this ecosystem.
8/8 Silent Lotus(Show 910) Lotus, a young Cambodian girl who cannot hear or speak, is invited to become a dancer in the king's court. LeVar takes the opportunity to explore the vast and expressive world of non-verbal communication by watching mimes and talking with people who communicate using sign language. He also learns how deafness impacts people's lives.
8/11 Follow the Drinking Gourd (Show 1001)
Runaway slaves journey north along the Underground Railroad by following directions in a song, “The Drinking Gourd.” LeVar celebrates the road to freedom paved by the Underground Railroad, introducing viewers to the history, heroes, stories and music of the African American culture which emerged from slavery. An a cappella group, Sweet Honey In The Rock, perform and share their historical knowledge of slavery.
8/12 If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (Show 1002)
A little boy offers a mouse a cookie and a chain reaction is set in motion illustrating how one thing leads to another. LeVar takes viewers behind the scenes at a bowling center to see how a bowling ball also starts a cycle of mechanical reactions. Then viewers are off to a factory where bowling balls are made. A domino expert shows how he designs chain reactions as he sets up a ‘domino art' event.
8/13 Is This House for Hermit Crab? (Show 1003)
When Hermit Crab outgrows his old house, he ventures out to find a new one. Finding it becomes particularly humorous when that home is carried on the crab's back! LeVar builds a house for the flying friends in his backyard while viewers watch the “Lifestyles of the Wild and Tameless” to see where a variety of animals live. Then viewers visit scientists who work in the city to protect and provide roosts for peregrine falcons.
8/14 And Still the Turtle Watched (Show 1004)
A turtle carved in rock many years ago by Native Americans watches the river below. In the span of time it observes many ecological changes with a great deal of sadness. LeVar takes viewers on a historical journey from the first settlers in this country to the present, and explores our responsibility to care for the earth. Scientists show how they care for and raise nearly extinct bald eagles and release them into their natural habitat.
8/15 June 29, 1999 (Show 1005)
While her third grade classmates are sprouting seeds in paper cups, Holly has a more ambitious, innovative science project in mind. LeVar investigates UFOs Viewers follow a boy and his father who discover strange artifacts, visit a farmer who grows huge pumpkins, and hear a first hand account of a UFO report.
8/18 Visiting Day (Show 1501)
A young girl and her grandmother make the long bus trip every month to visit the girl's father in prison. LeVar introduces a family separated by a prison sentence and joins the family for visiting day and find out what life is like for kids when a parent is incarcerated.
8/19 Unique Monique(Show 1502)
Monique's school uniform doesn't allow her to express herself so she experiments with ways to be unique. LeVar visits the Twinsburg Twins Days Festival and later LeVar visits with Brandon, who stuttered as a child and now helps kids express themselves through art.
8/20 Mr. George Baker(Show 1503)
Harry sits on the porch with 100 year old Mr. George Baker who can dance and play the drums but goes to school, just like Harry, so he can learn to read. LeVar visits with The Steppers, a group of senior women who are learning to dance, and the Ferrara family who runs a bakery where the youngest to the oldest have been mixing up sweet treats for five generations.
8/21 Beegu (Show 1504)
Beegu, a small space creature finds no welcome on Earth until she meets some children on a play ground. LeVar shows us Earth from a whole new perspective as we see our planet from the vantage point of space. We also witness the moon exploration missions, find out how scientists created rovers to explore Mars, and have a look at a kid-written story about a Mars adventure.
8/22 Two Old Potatoes and Me(Show 1505)
After a young girl finds two old potatoes at her father's house, they plant and tend them to see if they will have new potatoes in September. LeVar and his daughter Michaela welcome us to their kitchen as they explore how kitchen waste can actually be re-used to help their garden grow. Then it's off to visit artists who take cast offs and turn them into something beautiful and useful, and to a manufacturing to watch the a-maize-ing feat of turning corn into something totally unexpected.
8/25 The Biggest Test in the Universe (Show 1601)
story of a boy dreading the “big test” which has become his elementary school's right-of-passage. The pressure to prepare and do well in this test is echoed by host LeVar Burton's daughter Michaela as she practices for an audition, and by the young members of the NYC children's theater group TADA! as they pour their hearts and souls into preparing for a performance.
8/26 I Lost My Tooth in Africa (Show 1602)
Written by a girl and illustrated by her father, the feature book tells the tale of a young girl who loses a tooth while visiting her father's family in Africa. In the African tradition, she places the tooth under a gourd and in return gets two chickens from the Tooth Fairy. Host LeVar Burton explores with youngsters how things have changed for them as they've grown, and how taking care of our teeth is part of that process. Then it's off to attend a Quinceanera -- a celebration for a 15-year-old Hispanic girl in honor of her transition into womanhood.
8/27 Boxes for Katje (Show 1603)
Based on real events, the feature story is about a charitable effort that begins with a girl and her family, who send a care package to Holland during World War II, and grows to envelop both communities. Host LeVar Burton introduces helping groups powered by young people -- the Global Ambassadors, who build goodwill and do community service while learning about cultures through international communications and fundraising, and Backyard in a Box, youngsters who create and send kits to help kids in Hurricane Katrina devastated areas re-establish and enjoy their backyard.
8/28 Game Day (Show 1604)
Written by NFL superstar twin brothers Tiki and Ronde Barber, the feature book shares the story of how, as youngsters, they learned that success is built on team effort. Follow as athletes train for, play and enjoy a variety of sports, and we learn that every player on a team has a special role in contributing to the success of the group. As Host LeVar Burton points out, the lessons learned in sports can help you achieve your goals.
8/29 Show Way (Show 1605)
The feature book traces the lineage of one family's women who began creating quilts with secret maps to freedom during the years of slavery and continued in the generations beyond as a tribute to the past. Host LeVar Burton and his family discover some items from earlier relatives, and then we meet a grandmother who inspires her grandson, family members and others with her childhood memories of surviving the Holocaust during World War II.
Airs M-F from 2:00-2:30 p.m.
8/7 The Salamander Room (Show 909)
A young boy finds a salamander and thinks of the many things he can do to make a perfect home for it. LeVar visits the JungleWorld at the Bronx Zoo. Educator Noreen gives LeVar a tour and shows him the many types of animals that live there. See how JungleWorld was made by skilled artists. Watch them create trees, vines and rocks.See scientists drop a huge "raft" into the tree tops of the rainforest so they can study and discover the plants and animals of this ecosystem.
