''WordWorld'' is an American animated

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

based on the books and the wooden puzzles of the same name. The series was created by Don Moody, Jacqueline Moody, Peter Schneider and Gary Friedman, it was produced by Word World, LLC, The Learning Box and WTTW National for

PBS Kids PBS Kids (stylized as PBS KIDS) is the branding used for nationally distributed children's programming carried by the U.S. public television network PBS. The brand encompasses a daytime block of children's programming carried daily by most PBS ...

. ''WordWorld'' aired on

from September 3, 2007 to January 17, 2011, with PBS later airing reruns on the national 24-hour PBS Kids channel from January 16, 2017 to October 2, 2022. The series consisted of 3 seasons and 45 episodes (90 segments total).

Premise

In the series, when letters are combined to spell words, they morph into the shape of the corresponding object. The animal characters and many objects are made of letters, and are respectively called WordFriends and WordThings. The main setting is a planet that has two landmasses in the shape of Ws for WordWorld; despite its name, WordFriends and WordThings also exist in outer space. In each episode, the characters have a cartoonish adventure, and ultimately must "build a word" using synthetic phonics to solve a problem. Some episodes focus on concepts such as

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...

compound word In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or Sign language, sign) that consists of more than one Word stem, stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. C ...

s, and

plural In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...

formation with ''-s''. WordWorld is designed to teach children how to spell. In non-English speaking countries, it is designed to teach children English as a

second language A second language (L2) is a language spoken in addition to one's first language (L1). A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a foreign language. A speaker's dominant language, which ...

Cast

* H.D. Quinn as the Narrator, Dog, Fly, Duck, Ant, and Cow *

Lenore Zann Lenore Zann (born November 22, 1959) is a Canadian actress and politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Cumberland—Colchester in the House of Commons of Canada as a member of the Liberal Party. Before ent ...

as Bear (Seasons 1) and Kangaroo * George Bailey as Pig, Bug, and Monkey * Daryl Ekroth as Frog * Mirm Kriegel as Bear (Seasons 2-3) * Heidi Blickenstaff as Sheep (Season 1) * Veronica Taylor as Sheep (Seasons 2-3) and Bird * Duffy Ozar as Bee * Kate Brewer as Cat and Spider * Ester Lucille as Elephant * Marc Thompson as Shark, Robot, Fox and Monster * Zoe Martin as Fish and Whale * Billy Rippy as Turtle * Willie Martinez as Crab

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2007–08)

Season 2 (2009)

Season 3 (2010–11)

Reception

Critical

Emily Ashby of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

gave the series 5 out of 5 stars; saying that, "This show is perfectly suited for preschoolers' learning level, and it will entertain them as it reinforces their knowledge of letters, sounds, and simple words. With its imaginative design and with the various font styles used to create the letter-based objects, the WordWorld package is delightful enough to draw in parents almost as readily as kids."

Awards

2009 Emmy Award Winner Outstanding Children's Animated Program Outstanding Writing in Animation 2008 Emmy Award Winner Outstanding Achievement in Main Title Three 2007 Parents' Choice Awards: Gold Welcome to WordWorld DVD Rocket to the Moon/The Birds DVD WordWorld Television Series Creative Child Magazine – Creative Toys Awards 2008 Preferred Choice Award: Barn Bucket Set 2008 Seal of Excellence Award: Pull-Apart Plush 2004 Preferred Choice Award: Pull Apart Plush 2008 Toy Wishes Magazine All-Star Award WordPuzzle with Sound: Duck's Beach Party Interactive Media Awards 2007 Best in Class: PBS Kids WordWorld Website

References

External links

* * {{Former PBS Kids shows 2000s American animated comedy television series 2010s American animated comedy television series 2000s American children's comedy television series 2010s American children's comedy television series 2000s preschool education television series 2010s preschool education television series 2007 American animated television series debuts 2011 American television series endings American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated fantasy television series American children's animated musical television series American computer-animated television series American English-language television shows American preschool education television series American television shows based on children's books Animated preschool education television series Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program winners English-language education television programming PBS animated television series PBS Kids shows Reading and literacy television series Television series by WTTW Television shows set in circuses Television shows filmed in New York City Animated television series set on fictional planets Children's television series about talking animals