What to Read Based on Your Favorite PBS Kids Show
While there are so many wonderful TV shows and characters from my childhood, my favorite PBS kids shows will always hold a special place in my heart. I remember running home from school to catch episodes of Cyber Chase, and waking up early on Saturday mornings to watch Maya and Miguel. So of course I had to compile a list of all my favorite PBS kids shows and pair them with LBYR books!
If you, too, were/are still obsessed with PBS kids shows, join me as I take a walk down memory lane. Here’s what you should read next with your kid based on your favorite show!
If you loved Maya and Miguel, try The Fresh New Face of Griselda
Griselda loves beautiful things, like her vintage teacup collections and the flower garden in her front yard. But when her father’s business fails and her family loses their home, her steadfast confidence begins to crack. So when her big sister Maribel begins gaining success selling Alma Cosmetics products, Griselda jumps at the chance to help revive her dad’s business and help her family. This sweet, smart story has two dynamic, smart, and fun sibling characters that are worth rooting for. If you love Maya and Miguel’s relationship and Maya’s determinism to help the people she cares for, pick up The Fresh New Face of Griselda!
If you loved Cyber Chase, try Space Taxi
I wasn’t the biggest math nerd as a kid, but I was absolutely obsessed with Cyber Chase. The action, the humor, and the characters drew me in and had me hooked, as well as the real life applications to the math used in the show. I wish I had had Space Taxiin my life as well, the sci-fi STEM chapter book series from New York Timesbestselling author Wendy Maas. In this wacky series, Archie is finally able to tag along with his dad on Take Your Kid to Work Day. But he finds out his dad’s no ordinary taxi driver: he has an intergalactic spacetaxi! They spend the night carting aliens across the galaxy, avoiding crashing into planets, and saving the world from an evil mastermind. Give this series to the Cyber Chase-loving kid in your life!
If you loved Bob the Builder, try Three Grumpy Trucks
If you and your kid can’t get enough of Bob the Builder, try reading Three Grumpy Truckstogether! Three busy trucks have big plans for their day at the playground, like digging, lifting, building, and shifting. But when they start to get tired, and hungry, and GRUMPY, will anyone be able to calm them down? Construction site fans needthis book in their life!
If you loved Angelina Ballerina, try The Very Fairy Princess Series
Graceful, elegant tots that adore the sweet and silly Angelina Ballerina will fall in love with Geraldine, the very fairy princess! Gerry’s family might not believe in fairies, but deep down, she knows she is a VERY fairy princess. She does everything fairy princesses do: dresses in royal attire, practices flying skills, and is always looking for problems to solve. But as any fairy princess knows, it’s not all twirls and tiaras, and dirty fingernails and scabby knees are just the price you pay for a perfect day!
If you loved Zoboomafoo, try The Survival Tails series
The Survival Tails series is for any animal lover interested in learning more about different places and historical time periods — so give these books to someone who loves Zoboomafoo! Join sled dog Samson on Ernest Shackleton’s historical voyage to Antarctica, Parakeet Melati during the eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia, Mutt and Alice on the Titanic, and Ming the panda during the WWII London Blitz: these adorable animals can’t wait to bring you along on their exhilarating, exciting adventures.