Peep and the Big Wide World and Between the Lions Awarded Parent’s Choice Gold Awards

Peep and the Big Wide World, WGBH’s Emmy award winning innovative science program for preschoolers, and Between the Lions, its ten time Emmy award winning literacy program for kids aged 3-7, have won 2011 Parent’s Choice Gold Medals.

“We are honored to receive these awards from Parent’s Choice, an organization that shares the values of our mission to educate and entertain,” says WGBH Vice President for Children’s Media and Educational Programming, Brigid Sullivan. “WGBH continues to stand at the top of quality, educational children’s programming.”

In awarding the programs one of it’s highest awards, the Parent’s Choice Foundation notes that “Peep and the Big Wide World is a charming series that will have kids giggling as they learn the value and reward of learning” and “with its humorous puppet cast and focused educational mission, Between the Lions has a smart charm about it that's sure to please early readers and their parents.”

Designed to help parents  and caregivers of all achievements and backgrounds make informed decisions about which new products are right for their children, the Parents' Choice  Awards is the nation's oldest nonprofit program created to recognize quality children's media. The Parents' Choice Gold Award is given to programs that are judged as  the highest quality, most appealing products in their genre.

Narrated by award-winning comedienne Joan Cusack and set in and around a pond, a bush, and a tin can, Peep and the Big Wide World follows a newly hatched chicken named Peep, and his friends Chirp and Quack (a robin and a duck), on their daily adventures. Surrounding them is a large urban park — a place of great wonder and mystery, a place they are forever eager to explore, a place they call "the big wide world." Each half-hour episode contains two stories which highlight specific science concepts, plus two live-action shorts presenting real kids playing and experimenting with these concepts in their own big wide worlds. Visit Peep and the Big Wide World online at http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/ and follow it on Facebook at facebook.com/pages/Official-Peep-and-the-Big-Wide-World and on Twitter at @Peepchirpquack.

Between the Lions is an award-winning PBS television series that premiered in April 2000. It's designed to foster the literacy skills of its viewers, while playfully demonstrating the joys of reading. Each show aims to give kids three to seven years old some of the experiences they need in order to become successful readers. The "mane" characters, lion cubs Lionel (age 7) and Leona (age 4) serve as role models for younger viewers. Cleo and Theo are playful, understanding, and literary parents, who eagerly demonstrate the power and pleasure of literacy. You can visit Between the Lions online at http://www.pbs.org/parents/lions/program/.

For a full list of Parent’s Choice Awards, visit http://www.parents-choice.org/awardlevels.cfm.