09.05.07

A really special time for me during the day is snuggling with my boys after their afternoon naps, and watching a show. They love to sit on the "big couch", sip on their drinks, and relax with some of their favorite friends, whether it be Elmo, Franklin, or Pinky Dinky Doo.  Their afternoon friends teach them important things like sharing, building their vocabulary, and honesty. But recently I discovered a new friend, WILBUR, who teaches kids one of the most important activities of all…reading. 

Created by three inspirational moms (Jill, Kim, and Tracey), WILBUR is an adorable young cow, or calf, who inspires a love of reading and excites children to pick up a book. Along with his best barnyard friends, Dasha the duck, Ray the rooster, and Libby the lamb, WILBUR solves important lessons, like matching shapes, all with the help of wonderful books. Once you hear the adorable music start, "When he starts to wiggle, when he starts to giggle, you know it must be time to read a book…" you know WILBUR will be diving in to his next book and taking kids on a magical adventure.

What I love most about the WILBUR episodes is how they are presented in an upbeat and lighthearted fashion. Though the focus is to motivate and excite preschoolers to read, the cute puppets and catchy songs kept my boys' attention and evoked my older son to dance, or wiggle, just like WILBUR. 

WILBUR may be seen on Discovery Kids at 11am and The Learning Channel (TLC) at 7:30am, Monday thru Friday. In addition, WILBUR may be seen ANY TIME at readysetlearn.com. You and your children may listen to music, play puzzles, watch videos, or print pictures for coloring, from the website, with WILBUR and all his friends. As a special treat, my older son and my husband play on the computer together after dinner. Once they discovered WILBUR online, along with all the other awesome characters from Ready Set Learn!, they have been having so much fun. Let's just say "Wilbah, Compoota, Dadda" is a common request!

September is National Literacy Month and there is no better way to celebrate reading with your children, than to celebrate with WILBUR.