It's 'Big Big Friend Day' On PBS KIDS(R) Friday, November 25th

It's 'Big Big Friend Day' On PBS KIDS(R) Friday, November 25th

Clifford and the Gang from Dragon Tales Help Kids Build New Friendships with a Special Two-Hour Programming Block

Plus, a Sneak Peek at IT'S A BIG BIG WORLD!

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- PBS KIDS introduces new friends in a big way during "Big Big Friend Day" on November 25th, the day after Thanksgiving. Within this special two-hour programming block kids will get a double helping of themed episodes about friendship and respecting others from CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG and DRAGON TALES, with online games and activities available at pbskids.org. Kids will also get a chance to meet some new friends from IT'S A BIG BIG WORLD, a new preschool series premiering on PBS KIDS on January 2, 2006 (check local listings).

"The holidays are a great way to spend time with family and friends, and appreciation and respect for new and different friends are important values for children to learn as they engage and grow in a very diverse world," said John F. Wilson, senior vice president, programming, PBS. "The characters from the new PBS KIDS' series, IT'S A BIG BIG WORLD, share life lessons together and are great role models for kids as they learn about the 'big world' around them and their important part in it."

According to a recent Harris Interactive Kids Image Tracker study, 80% of parents believe television influences their children's behavior and 75% of parents agreed that their kids learn respect for others by watching programs on PBS KIDS (August, 2005). "Big Big Friend Day" is a part of PBS KIDS' mission to meet the educational and developmental needs of today's children and serve as a positive model for growth and learning.

Before meeting some of these new friends, kids will be enticed by a riddle from Clifford's friend, Emily Elizabeth, to guess who - or what - it could be. Riddles such as, "They hang out in trees; They have three toes; They're upside down when they doze" invite kids to creatively think about the possibilities. Some of the new friends introduced on "Big Big Friend Day" include Snook, a friendly, giant sloth; Smooch and Winslow, rambunctious marmoset siblings; Wartz, an eager-to-please singing tree frog; and Bob, an anteater who is constantly overwhelmed. Other characters from IT'S A BIG BIG WORLD include Madge, an ancient she-turtle with the map of the world on her back; Burdette, a bird who thinks she knows it all; Ick, a braggart fish; Oko, an old monkey trickster and more. Each character has a unique perspective and scientific approach to situations, giving children great structure for their own investigations.

Produced by award-winning television series creator, Mitchell Kriegman, IT'S A BIG BIG WORLD features a diverse group of animal characters that reside in the World Tree - a metaphor for the world as a whole - and navigate their environment and life situations in stories that highlight science and geography concepts. The series emphasizes the joy of discovery and taps into children's natural fascination with a world much bigger than their immediate surroundings, encouraging preschoolers to better understand our global community. The series is produced in "Shadowmation(R)," a visually striking technique that combines puppetry, animatronics and computer generated animation to create a uniquely rich world of characters and environments.

Episodes on "Big Big Friend Day" (check local listings)

CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG "Clifford Grows Up", episode 206a The Howards do their best to make Clifford comfortable after he's grown too big for their city apartment. So they finally move to Birdwell Island to make Clifford happy.

CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG "Welcome to the Doghouse", episode 132a In this flashback episode, we see some of the challenges the Howards faced when they arrived on Birdwell Island with a very big red dog! Where would Clifford live? How would they feed him? What would they use as his water dish? The folks of Birdwell Island worked together to help the new arrivals solve their problems, forging strong new friendships in the process.

DRAGON TALES "One Big Wish", episode 205 Max wishes he could be big enough to hit home runs and catch fly balls. He finds a wishing well that grants his wish, and Max begins to grow and grow. Soon he's even bigger than Mungus the Giant. Max finds out that being big is not all that he thought it would be, and gets his friends to help him return to his own size.

DRAGON TALES "A New Friend", episode 308 Lorca's a new dragon in town. He loves to have a good time and perform fantastic magic tricks. He also uses a purple wheelchair with sparkly wheels to get around. The friends can't wait to check out Lorca's wheelchair, and the treasure map he has. They set out with their new friend to find the X that marks the spot.

CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG "New Dog in Town", episode 127a In a heartwarming flashback story, we learn how Clifford's enormous size frightened T-Bone when they met for the first time. T-Bone learns that "you can't judge a book by its cover" and that friends come in all shapes and sizes.

CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG "Cleo Comes to Town", episode 106a In a flashback, we see how Cleo shook things up when she first moved to the island. T-Bone learns to accept a new friend.

DRAGON TALES "Fly With a New Friend, Part 1", episode 301a Max and Emmy have a new neighbor. His name is Enrique, and he's just moved to the U.S. from Colombia. Enrique's having trouble adjusting to life in his new country, so Max and Emmy invite him to Dragon Land. Enrique is amazed by what he sees there, and his new friends love hearing his stories.

DRAGON TALES "Fly With a New Friend, Part 2", episode 301b Enrique wishes he could make friends more easily. During a tour of Dragon Land with Max, the dragon friends show off their favorite spots. They discover that all the Knuckerholes have vanished, and meet a wizard-in- training who accidentally summoned the Knuckerholes.

PBS KIDS is committed to providing the highest quality commercial-free content and learning environment for children across the country. Providing age-appropriate, diverse programming for kids, PBS KIDS programs consistently earn more prestigious awards than any other broadcast or cable network. Only PBS KIDS has earned the unanimous endorsement of parents, children, industry leaders and teachers. With additional PBS resources to complement its programming, including PBS KIDS online (www.pbskids.org), PBS KIDS GO! (www.pbskidsgo.org), PBS Parents (www.pbsparents.org), PBS TeacherSource, PBS Ready To Learn services and literacy events across the country, PBS is providing the tools necessary for positive child development. PBS is a nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 348 public television stations, serving nearly 90 million people each week and reaching 99% of American homes.

Source: PBS KIDS

CONTACT: Jill Corderman of PBS KIDS, +1-703-739-5788, jcorderman@pbs.org; or Kelli Stich Mills, kellis@ferencomm.com, or Leah Sparkes, leahs@ferencomm.com, both of FerenComm for PBS KIDS, +1-212-983-9898

Web site: http://www.pbs.org/ http://pbskids.org/

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