The Network Parents Can Trust!

Since all of my reviews so far have been qubo shows, I think it's fair to say that it would be my favorite network, if I had it. I have to pay extra to have it and while it's worth it, I just don't have the money right now. Maybe soon!! For now I have to settle for the shows they air on ION and NBC. To quote their brochure, "qubo believes in sharing stories that have a heart and a message. Our engaging quality shows demonstrate friendship, honesty, politeness and team work, while advocating the fun of reading and the benefits of keeping bodies healthy." All reasons to love qubo!! They promote positive, traditional family values, reading, and healthy eating. All in all a well rounded, viewing experience. I know that if I turn on qubo shows I can feel comfortable in letting my son watch without me having to monitor commercials. qubo has strict guidelines when it comes to advertising on their network. "Partial list of qubo nutritional values: Meats, poultry and seafood. Advertising of processed meats, such as hot dogs, is not acceptable; unprocessed meats, poultry or seafood without added oil or sugar, such as canned tuna in spring water) is acceptable. Juice beverages. Consumption should be limited to no more than one small serving of no more than 6 ounces per day and this should be indicated in the advertisement." From qubo's Healthy Living Initiatves press release: "To create these nutritional guidelines, qubo enlisted the help of nationally renowned author and expert on childhood obesity, Goutham Rao, MD, clinical director of the Weight Management and WellnessCenter at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. The guidelines list acceptable nutritional intake limits for meals and snacks broken down by calories, grams of fat, as well as saturated and trans fat, sugar, protein, fiber and sodium. Concerned with the growing trend towards childhood obesity, qubo called for these guidelines to guide on-air and online advertising decisions and to ensure parents that qubo provides a safe environment for children with positive messages about healthy living." qubo is a member of the Ad Council's Coalition on Healthy Children. Kids do listen and remember what they hear on television! My son tells me,  "There's smart and there's Kmart smart." Let's hear our kids talk nutrition!! qubo airs Ad Council Public Service announcements featuring Olympic athletes and your kids favorite qubo "stars" on NBC and ION. I've heard Jane of Jane and the Dragon talk about fast food. She's talking about fruit which is quick to prepare and easy to take "on the fly". For more on qubo's nutritional values, please contact qubo at askqubo@qubo.com.

Disclaimer: I was not paid by qubo for my opinion! I was provided with screeners and literature to view with the purpose of giving my honest opinion.

Shelldon

Dive into adventure under the sea with Shelldon the shellfish and his family. Despite his best efforts to stay out of trouble, it usually finds him anyway!

Brody agreed to watch part of it and then play a video game....until he started watching it and then he didn't want to turn it off. He said he liked the characters and wants to see it again but he wasn't as enthused about Shelldon as he is other shows. I did not feel this show has the quality of the other qubo shows. I couldn't really get into the characters but I liked the moral of the story. In the episode Brody and I saw, Shelldon was feeling average and left out until encouraged to use his strengths to help someone else. In the process, he learns a few things himself! I was surprised the looks of the characters didn't scare my son a little., they were kind of scary to me! I guess I'm too sensitive being a girl and all!! Shelldon is done in one long half-hour story. I don't think this one will be a first choice among parents wanting to enjoy cartoons with their children. It's just not that engaging. Sorry qubo, but Brody and I want Veggie Tales back! In fact, I just asked him and Brody says he likes Veggie Tales better.

Shelldon airs on NBC Saturdays at 12 PM EST and on ION Wed-Fri at 3:30 PM EST

This is so awesome!!

Even though the partnership has ended this is great to know about the fabulous channel qubo. I love this station!! They have mine and my my children's favorite shows. Thank you qubo!!!

NEWS RELEASE

KaBOOM! AND qubo® JOIN FORCES TO MAKE PLAY A PRIORITY FOR CHILDREN ACROSS AMERICA

(New York, N.Y./Washington, D.C. - - August 20, 2008) Today, KaBOOM!, the national nonprofit dedicated to bringing play back into children's lives and qubo, the television and online service for children, announced an official partnership that will help honor communities that make play a priority. The announcement was made by Darell Hammond, co-founder and CEO of KaBOOM! and Rick Rodriguez, president and general manager of qubo.

The partnership will run through the end of 2009 and will help KaBOOM! advance its vision of a great place to play within walking distance for every child in America, while simultaneously underscoring qubo'smission of promoting healthy lifestyles for children. The cornerstone program of the partnership is the KaBOOM! "Playful City USA" initiative, which honors cities that have demonstrated a commitment to improving play within their communities. In early September, KaBOOM! and qubo will announce the list of 2008 Playful City USA communities with an extensive marketing campaign including on-air and online promos, Public Service Announcements, print ads and conferences, including an event at the National League of Cities conference in Orlando, Florida. The two organizations will also build on the success of their first collaboration by building another playground together in 2009.

KaBOOM! and qubo first collaborated in May 2008 when qubo sponsored the construction of a KaBOOM! playground at Sarah T. Reed Elementary School in New Orleans.

On the day of the build, KaBOOM! oversaw the efforts of hundreds of individuals, including qubo employees, members of the local community and volunteers from the cable industry. Working side-by-side, these volunteers turned an empty lot into an exciting new playground in just one day. The playground build took place as part of the CableCares community service project during the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) annual convention.

"After working with KaBOOM! in New Orleans, we knew that we had found an organization that shared qubo's goal of enhancing the lives of America's children. It was inevitable that we would work together again," said Rodriguez. "Through our television programming, website, anti-obesity campaign and other off-air efforts, we are determined to demonstrate that qubo is a concerned, family-friendly ally that parents can trust. In entering this partnership with KaBOOM!, we are excited to give kids the opportunity to be kids again through the power of play."

Added Darell Hammond, "Bringing play back into the lives of our children isn't just beneficial, it's essential. We think qubo is a great partner to help us honor the communities who are committed to the cause of play."

About qubo:

qubo® is a groundbreaking bilingual, multi-platform entertainment destination for children that focuses on literacy, values and healthy lifestyles while celebrating the unlimited possibilities of a child's imagination. Most of qubo's shows are associated with popular children's books, and the network's interstitial programming continues to reinforce messages about early literacy and healthy living. Beyond its quality television offerings, qubo utilizes its interstitial programming, website and outside partnerships (with the U.S. Olympic committee and Reading is Fundamental) to promote messages about healthy living and literacy. qubo also recently adopted a set of nutritional guidelines for acceptable foods that can be advertised on air. Formed in 2006 by an unprecedented alliance of leading distribution partners and content players in children's television, including Scholastic, ION Media Networks, NBC Universal, Corus Entertainment and Classic Media, qubo offers dynamic content in multiple environments. Currently broadcast on NBC Saturday mornings, ION Television Wednesday- Friday afternoons and Telemundo weekend mornings (check local listings) qubo also includes a 24/7 qubo Channel and website,

New Epsiode of the Zula Patrol!

The Zula Patrol is saving the universe but not necessarily from villains! In A Star is Born the Zula Patrol is on their way to a party when they meet up with Buck Starburst, protector of the protostars. Buck and the other protostars are afraid of change but the Zula Patrol helps them see that "Trying new things helps us learn and grow!" The Multo Moment at the end recaps the true story behind protostars, the sun and nebulae.

The next story in this episode is called Galactic Star Games and this time it just happens to be Sun's aunt who needs their help. Aunt Dorothy has wanted to be on the Starlight Scramble event's Superstars team ever since she was a starlet but Coach Bruno won't give her a chance because she's too old. The Zula Patrol teaches Coach Bruno that we can all learn something from people with more experience. The Multo Moment focuses on the different types of stars.

I loved that by the end of this half-hour show my three year old could tell me how a star is formed and the four different colors of stars. He might not remember the correct order yet but He knows what the colors mean. Yay! This such a cool cartoon!! This episode premiers May 21st qubo on ION and May 23 qubo on NBC. Check your local listings. Ask for the qubo channel from your local cable or satellite provider if you don't have it!! If you like the picture in this review you can get the wallpaper for you computer at http://www.qubo.com/

My Friend Rabbit

This show is based on the 2002 Caldecott Medal Award winning children's book by Eric Rohmann. I love this cartoon! The characters are sweet and caring and treat each other with respect. A perfect combination for my three year old! The animation is a little diasappointing as it doesn't really stay true to the original illustrations, which is why the book received the Caldecott Medal in the first place. That said, the colors are vibrant and you can't help but love each and every cuddly friend. Jasper the aligator, Hazel the squirrel, the Gibble-Goose girls, Pearl, Amber, Jade and Coral, Thunder the rhino, Edeena the elephant and of course Mouse and Rabbit all have different qualities that help our heroes out of trouble! This half hour show is done in two shorter stories and my son watched every minute. I give this show 5 remotes!

Stay tuned for more detailed episode reviews!

Babar is a cartoon based on the classic children's books by Jean de Brunhoff. The characters are animated in the style of the book illustrations, which adds to the charm of this cartoon. Babar and Celeste's voices are stiff but pleasant enough. Alexander and Pom's voices are on the piercing side, which is where one of my moan factors comes in to play. The music is nicw but it didn't make my boys dance. As I've mentioned before, since we parents have to watch cartoons almost as much as our children, I believe they should be enjoyable or at least tolerable for us as well. Babar does not fiind this balance between making children and parents happy at the same time. While it did make Brody laugh and cheer at points, he wanted to read a book half way through the story. Babar is a half hour show containing one story. The thing I did not like about the show is the interaction between the brothers. I did not feel it was a positive interaction for my three year old to be watching. I give this show 2 remotes. Babar airs on qubo Channel. Go to www.qubo.com to see if you get qubo Channel. qubo shows also air on NBC, ION and Telemundo so please check your local listings!

Stay tuned for more detailed episode reviews!

The Zula Patrol is great! This is the first show I know of that teaches about astronomy and I love that!! The music is fun and the characters are entertaining. Computer animation isn't my favorite but it completely fits this show. I find the characters to be likeable and that's hard to find as an adult. Ya know, when cartoons are made the producers have to realize that we poor parents have to watch these shows about a million times. So they can at least make it not too annoying for us!! They've done a good job on this one. I would watch this with my son without moaning. My son loves it because it takes place in space and he's really into rockets right now. He loves music and it had him moving! Now, Zula patrol is a half-hour show done in two shorter stories. At the end of the story there is a scientific recap called Multo Moment. This is where the character named Multo, of course, explains just the science. My 3 year old understood it and he could answer all the questions! He's learning about science and he's not even in school yet!!! Woo hoo! I give this show 4 remotes! Zula Patrol airs on qubo Channel. Go to http://www.qubo.com/ to see if you get qubo Channel. qubo shows also air on NBC, ION and Telemundo so please check your local listings!