Listen up and pay attention. That’s exactly what Angela Santomero, co-creator of Super Why, key visionary behind Blue’s Clues and the new host of PBSParents.org’s The Parent Show, did as she met and chatted with mom bloggers across the country this past year.

The conversation started about Super Why, the research behind it and how the show was helping children learn to read in a national marketing panel. It evolved into a discussion where moms shared they were very interested in what was happening behind-the-scenes at PBS Kids, would love a forum to keep the conversation going, and more media options and apps.

Santomero took that info to heart, brainstormed with Matt Graham, Director PBS Parents, and The Parent Show With Angela Santomero was born.

[Read the entire review at Mother of Confusion]

Hallmark Properties looks to Out of the Blue Enterprises (Super Why) to develop a new TV series based on Hallmark’s web-based property, Asteroid Andy.  Targeted to boys 6-11, Asteroid Andy is set in the future and follows the adventures of boy who lives on Earth with his family and an array of intergalactic friends.  Asteroid Andy was created by Hallmark veteran artist Peter Martin.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approves the acquisition of the Kids/Teen 2-17 targeted BBC Kids channel, a BBC Worldwide and Knowledge Canada joint venture.  The BBC Kids channel license was previously owned through a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Canada’s Shaw Media.  When Knowledge Network takes over operations of BBC Kids, the channel will be re-launched and will air commercial free 24/7, and will also feature a Cbeebies preschool programming block.  This will mark the premiere of Cbeebies in Canada.

[see Synopsis Media release] [related KidScreen link]

Today PBS Parents launches THE PARENT SHOW WITH ANGELA SANTOMERO at Mom 2.0, a national blogger’s conference in New Orleans. Hosted by Ms. Santomero, the Co-Creator and Executive Producer of the top-rated PBS KIDS series SUPER WHY and one of the key visionaries behind the long-running, award-winning Blue’s Clues, THE PARENT SHOW is just that: a show for parents.

THE PARENT SHOW’s mantra is that there is no way to be a perfect parent, but there are a million ways to be a good one. Through the series and blog, PBS Parents is striving for a fun, judgment-free community where parents share tips, advice and a sense of humor. THE PARENT SHOW is available on PBSPARENTS.org, one of the leading online destinations for parents and educators with over half a million visitors each month.

[Read Entire Article]

A new show, on PBS, from the creator of Super Why:  The Parent Show with Angela Santomero

Show premiers April 18th on:

www.pbs.org/parents/theparentshow/

The Jim Henson Company CEO Lisa Henson, Super Why! creator and executive producer Angela Santomero, Center for Children and Technology at the Education Development Center director Shelley Pasnik, and Fizzy’s Lunch Lab co-creator and executive producer Dave Schlafman speak during the ‘PBS Kids’ panel at the PBS portion of the 2011 Winter TCA press tour held at the Langham Hotel on January 8, 2011 in Pasadena, California.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

SUPER WHY offers fun, interactive twists on classic fairytales, many of which preschoolers already know and love. We created the Super Readers to be positive role models– by imitating Super Why and his friends, young children practice their alphabet, rhyming, spelling and reading skills–all while helping to save the day! Really, what better way to empower kids to read than by giving a superhero awesome literacy powers? Moreover, given that most of the superhero characters today target older kids, we felt strongly that it was important to introduce safe, age-appropriate heroes for smaller children.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Meet the imaginative powerhouse behind the über hit Blue’s Clues and the new sensation Super Why!

One day a fellow nursery school dad told me that one of the creators and writers of Blue’s Clues, Angela Santomero, lives in Greenwich. (The town appears to be a magnet for kids’ TV geniuses: Muppets creator Jim Henson, so essential to Sesame Street’s success, lived here from 1964 to 1971, and Barney and Friends creator Sheryl Leach lives here now.) The Santomero family — Angela and Greg and their daughters Hope and Ella — moved from Manhattan in 2006, a pivotal time in Angela’s career: Blue’s Clues had just ended production; she had started her own company, Out of the Blue Enterprises, with former Nickelodeon executive Samantha Freeman Alpert, and the two dynamos were readying Angela’s new creation, Super Why!, for its September 2007 debut on PBS Kids.

By the spring of 2009, Super Why! appeared to be on the brink of catching fire — an improbable second lightning strike for Angela. Who is this remarkable woman? What sorcery does she work on millions of littlekids? In order to find out, I went off to Out of the Blue in midtown Manhattan. The day was cloudy, but up on the company’s fourteenth floor offices, where the walls are painted sky-blue, light poured in anyway, as if the place radiated some sort of invincible kid energy. An assistant apologized: Executives from Hasbro, the toy company, were sequestered in the conference room and the meeting was running long. Presently Angela emerged, an attractive blonde with a light gold tan and a blazing smile.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Angela C. Santomero is a Founding Partner and Chief Creative Officer of Out of the Blue Enterprises LLC, overseeing the research and creative development of all of the company’s projects, with a mission and vision to bring educational entertainment to a whole new level. Her innovative approach to children’s television derives from her extensive background in developmental psychology, instructional technology and education.

Ms. Santomero is Creator, Executive Producer, and Head Writer of Super WHY!, the first preschool property that helps build literacy skills through a groundbreaking approach to reading education, classic fairytales with an innovative twist and empowering young heroes. Launched in September 2007 for PBS KIDS to critical acclaim, Super WHY! received a prestigious Ready to Learn Grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the U.S. Department of Education.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Four towns poured into Northern Valley Regional High School in Old Tappan New Jersey. There couldn’t have been more than 5,000 people in each town. Harrington Park was one of them- a sleepy little area in Bergen County that I called home. It’s the type of town where everyone knows one another with a single elementary school encompassing kindergarten through eighth grade. I fondly remember two sisters who lived in Harrington Park: Jennifer and Angela. They were kind and sweet and the type that you’d want your own daughters to befriend.

And now, thanks to Facebook, I have learned that they still are. Angela is not only kind and sweet- she is hugely successful. Your children may want to hug her for co-creating, producing and writing Nick Jr.’s Blue’s Clues and PBS KIDS Super WHY! You may want to kiss her for educating and entertaining your kids while you take a much need break!

Amongst her many accomplishments, Angela led the production and development of the Emmy nominated Blue’s Big Musical Movie, wrote two Blue’s Clues’ theatrical productions that played in venues across the nation and co-founded Out of the Blue Enterprises. As a pioneer in interactive children’s programming, Angela continues to educate and captivate our kids with Super WHY! And all the while, she raises two beautiful daughters. In an exclusive interview with Butterfly, Angela shares her innovative approach to children’s programming and parenting.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Co-create, become the Executive Producer and write a landmark Emmy nominated Nick Jr. television show; Blue’s Clues of course. Right?

Well, that’s exactly what co-founder of Out of the Blue Enterprises Angela Santomero did.

I spoke with her from her office in New York as she explained why she chose to pursue education through the entertainment industry versus teaching in a classroom. “Since watching Mr. Rogers, I knew how influential television can be and how modeling can be used as a teaching tool,” she said.  Angela is also the creator of the PBS Kids show, Super Why! which was actually her master’s thesis at Columbia Teacher’s College.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE