So honored to be on the same page as Barbara Walters, Ellen Degeneres & more in Variety’s Daytime TV Difference-Makers list.
Click HERE to read the Variety article.
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Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood
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Right after the emotional Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Breakfast, we were all whisked away to attend the PBS Kids Session.
I was humbled when asked to present with the Rock Stars of PBS Kids: Lesli Rotenberg, Linda Simensky and Sara DeWitt.
There, I revealed more about myself, tried not to cry & presented the show’s curriculum & it’s importance for today’s children.
The best part? I got to walk over center stage to interview Dr. Aisha White Oprah style.
Dr. White, in her own words, let everyone know that many children (& many adults) don’t learn how to deal with their emotions. You might know some adults like this, right?
Not having coping skills to deal with everyday problems (cooperation, sharing, resilience, persistence) will undoubtedly have negative effects on children later in life
This has been my mantra while writing Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. We need to teach children coping strategies so they can reach their full potential in life!
Here are 3 clues that I revealed about myself at the PBS Annual Meeting:
Clue #1: It’s true, that in my crazy Italian family, Mister Rogers was that calming voice that looked right at “me” and told me that he liked me just the way I was and I believed him. I followed in his footsteps and got my Master’s Degree in Child Development just like Fred did.
Clue #2: I went into television to create programs learning taking a cue from Fred’s groundbreaking style and approach. I just hope to do for kids today what Mister Rogers did for me.
Clue #3: I am the result of PBS programming…it creates people like me who wish to grow up and educate children through media.
Celebrate the premiere of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood with us!
Labor Day, SEPTEMBER 3rd @ 11am est
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Thank you everyone at PBS Kids for a wonderful Annual Meeting in Denver, CO to announce the Premiere of DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD this LABOR DAY, SEPT 3RD at 11am EST.
Me & Mrs Joanne Rogers in the Trolley at our PBS Kids breakfast to showcase Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood!
I was close to tears the whole day….
It started at 6:15am as I walked into the room transformed beautifully into the Neighborhood of Make Believe by Karen Fritz and Suzanne Masri from WETA. Incredible work!
Paul Siefken (PBS Kids) started our presentation talking about Daniel as a “signature show” for PBS. He said, “Everyone knows not to interrupt me when I’m with my Daniel. I first have to dab my eyes, because the show is that sweet. And the characters are that cute.”
It was then our turn. Kevin Morrison (CEO Fred Rogers Company) and I gave some “inside scoop” into the show. We talked about our passion for the show and I revealed that they practically had to rip the first script out of my hands. Someone from the Fred Rogers Company said, “It’s not like Fred is going to read it!” But I thought differently. “Maybe he will….. and if he does, will he like it?”
But my favorite moment? Announcing Bill Isler, President of Fred Rogers Company and Mrs. Joanne Rogers to a standing ovation! Joanne got up on stage and gave me the biggest hug. I turned to Bill Isler, he had tears in his eyes, and I flashed back to 15 years ago, when Bill allowed me behind the “velvet red ropes” to greet Fred after a keynote speech at NAEYC. Now look where we are today.
Tears all day…
Angela Santomero, Karen Fritz, Joanne Rogers, Suzanne Masri & Kevin Morrison
“Remembering Fred Rogers on his birthday, March 20th.
We hope you’ll join us in wearing a sweater and doing something neighborly!”
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood:
We finally shared our sneak peek on the PBS Preview site last week of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. While we’ve had an incredibly positive reaction from the kids who will make up our demographic audience, a few adult fans have some questions.
There will only be one Fred Rogers and one Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. All of the great preschool television shows out there owe a lot to this man and his mission for educating kids through media with respect and care. As a television creator, I literally grew up on Mister Rogers Neighborhood and wanted to do for kids programming what Mister Rogers did for me.
As such a huge fan of Mister Rogers’, you can imagine how it felt to be given the task of introducing Fred’s characters, his world and his pro-social curriculum to children today. Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood was born to do just that. It is based on the work of Fred Rogers, and I believe we are moving Fred’s legacy forward, in a whole new way.
So, here’s some scoop on the Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood preview clip:
The first clip: Show Open
We wanted to pay tribute to the Mister Roger’s Neighborhood open where Mister Roger’s puts on his red sweater and sneakers and sings directly to the home viewer.
For Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood we have Daniel, himself, sing to the home viewer for the beginning of the song and we intentionally kept it the same as Fred’s original song. Daniel zips up his red sweater, he puts on his little sneakers and even tosses one a la Fred!
If you look closely to this frame you can see all of our nostalgia elements: Daniel is in the foyer, similar to the Mister Roger’s foyer, there are few different colored sweaters in the closet, there is a stoplight, a little trolley behind Daniel, little models of the Neighborhood (made by hand out of clay by Traci Paige Johnson) & even the fish tank.
The song revs up and becomes a modern version of Fred’s “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” Daniel hops on the trolley and goes through the (Pittsburgh) tunnel (the one that we go through in the original series) and ends up in our expanded new version of The Neighborhood of Make Believe. We can see many of the iconic characters and some new ones (especially in this open when we premiere in September).
The clip from “Daniel’s Birthday” episode:
In this scene, you can get a sneak peek to Daniel’s character who wants to be big & strong and carry his own birthday cake all the way home on Trolley. Trolley premieres in this clip too, as you can hear her “ding” when spoken to as the beloved character that she is. Mom lets Daniel carry his cake by himself and he’s excited. Perhaps he’s a bit too excited!
We wanted to showcase empowering preschoolers and helping them through natural consequences. Because, as can be expected, when Daniel gets home, and runs in to show Dad his cake that he decorated at the bakery with his friends, it is smushed. Daniel is naturally very disappointed. Dad Tiger (the original Daniel Striped Tiger) takes the time to talk to Daniel about how he feels, letting Daniel have his emotion. Then Dad sings the disappointment strategy to him, “When something seems bad, turn it around and find something good.” Daniel sings the strategy with the home viewer and thinks about how he can “find something good” in a smushed birthday cake. He thinks. And thinks. And then….”HEY! Do you think the cake still tastes yummy, even though its smushy?” He tastes the cake and guess what? It does taste yummy! And that is something good!
Let us know what you think about this sneak peek of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood! Do you like the strategy? Does it get stuck in your head as it does in mine?
Can’t wait to hear from you!
So, I remember all too clearly being 9+ months pregnant, on my way to the hospital with my husband, making grand gestures to all my neighbors of “We’ll be back with the baby!” and “Today’s the big day! We’re going to have a baby!”
…3+ hours later we sheepishly returned home
…no baby
Today was not the day.
Well, that’s how I felt at #SXSW! I was so excited to give everyone a sneak peek of our much labored and beloved Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood! We were ready! We were going to share with the world our new little creation! And then…
…technical difficulties.
…no sneak peek.
Today was not the day.
However, what I did get to do was show everyone who came to have a glorious PBS KIDS SXSW BREAKFAST was our vision, our goals, and a sneak peek at some of our beautiful visuals. Hurray!
Daniel Tiger, the son of the original Daniel Tiger is our star. He’s four years old, he wears a little red sweater and sneakers and talks directly to the preschool home viewers the way Fred Rogers did.
Our characters are “the next generation” of characters from the Neighborhood of Make Believe. All of the original characters have grown up and they all have preschoolers of their own.
Introducing…..Prince Wednesday (King Friday and Queen Sarah’ Saturday’s later in life baby), Miss Elaina (daugther of Lady Elaine and Music Man Stan), O the Owl (nephew of X the Owl) and Katerina ‘meow meow” Kittycat (daughter of Henrietta ‘meow meow’ Pussycat).
The friends live and play together in the newly imagined and expanded Neighborhood of Make Believe created with hand crafted textures and love.
And, WAIT until you hear the music!
Our curriculum is based on little musical strategies that are all singable and relevant to preschoolers (and us, parents) for use every day. So, “What do you do with the mad that you feel?Well, when you feel so mad you want to ROAR! Take a deep breath and count to four….1,2,3,4”.No really, how great would it be if more adults put this this skill into action as well?!
The Fred Roger’s Company is the expert in socio-emotional curriculum and have literally written the book (& thousands of shows) on how to talk to kids about these issues. At Out of the Blue, we’ve painstakingly researched all of these strategies with kids, themselves, to get them just right. We’re proud to say that kids in research can’t get enough of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. They are singing, learning our strategies and using them already in their lives!
So, no, we didn’t birth a baby at SXSW.
But we did get a lot of new wonderful blogger aunts and uncles who came to support us and who will be there, at the ready, when our new baby Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood actually does premiere THIS FALL on (where else?!) PBS KIDS!
PBS KIDS Breakfast: The Cool Kids – What’s New for Today’s Digital Kids
On Sunday, March 11th, I’ll be joining Sara DeWitt (Vice President of PBS KIDS Interactive) at South by Southwest in Austin, TX for breakfast, interactive presentations and Q&A.
We will be discussing a few incredibly cool PBS happenings, both on-air and on the interactive side as well as answering the BIG question of: How do you create content that’s both educational & entertaining?
Within the conversation, we’ll be discussing the exciting development of the new Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood spin off, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and show a special Sneak Peek Video Clip from our 1st episode. I can’t wait to share it!
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“Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle.
To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.”
