From TV to books – let the Octonauts help your kids discover the joy of reading
Introducing the Octonauts
Last week saw the launch of Octonauts on Disney Jr.
I can tell you now, it is going to be a massive hit. The TV show has been available in the UK for just over a year, and the kids go crazy for it.
The show has the perfect mix of ingredients – the strong sensible captain (Barnacles); a pirate (Kwazi); a nurturing nurse (Peso); and a feisty young woman (Tweak). In every episode they need to save an ocean-dwelling creature from immediate danger, and nurse them back to health. There’s tension, drama, suspense, fear and joy – all rolled into ten minutes of animation.
So by now you may be wondering how dumping your kids in front of this show for 10 minutes is going to help tune them into the joy of books.
When the final credits roll, look very closely, and somewhere towards the end you will see ‘based on the books by Meomi’. The Octonauts characters, and their ethos of ‘explore, rescue, protect’ were born from just four short books, first published in the US in 2006.
So let your kids watch the show, fall in love with the characters, and then one story time, show them one of the original Octonauts books.
You can also now buy books based on the TV series. They have different style illustrations, and will have ‘as seen on TV’ written on them.
Developing a passion for stories
Reading books is about so much more than recognizing words. Try these activities with your kids, based on the Octonauts stories, to really help develop their interest in reading fiction:
- As you read to them, ask your children to close their eyes and picture the story for themselves;
- After a story, ask your child to pick a favorite character and make up their own story about them;
- Ask your child to draw a brand new character that they think would like to join the Octonauts crew.
Octonauts toys
To date, there have been 52 episodes of Octonauts made, so you can expect to see it on your TV screens for a while.
In Fall 2011, the Octonauts toy range was launched in the UK to accompany the series. You can buy some of these toys in the US now, but the prices are steep as they have not yet been widely released.
The marketing push for Christmas toys usually begins in the Summer, so you will be able to see then which toys will be released in the US. Keep your eyes open for the Octopod playset (featured in the video) which is sure to be hot favorite, although just the simple action figures, will provide plenty of fun, especially if you incorporate them into the activities I outlined earlier.