The Jim Henson Company, producer of the recent critically-acclaimed series Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock and Harriet the Spy, has partnered with A Kids Company About, the Portland, OR-based media company built on the belief that kids are ready to have challenging, empowering, and important conversations, to develop A Kids Show About. The new mixed-media series, targeting families and kids 6-11, is based on the bestselling and award-winning book series “A Kids Book About” and will feature live-action segments, animation, and puppetry vignettes to teach kids and families how to have conversations around the tough and relevant topics facing children today.
“A Kids Book About” books include over 80 titles and counting that address the biggest issues facing today’s kids and their communities, from racism to school shootings, as well as self-love, imagination, gender, anxiety , immigration, climate change, cancer, and incarceration. Contributors have included a variety of perspectives, backgrounds, and identities, and the brand has become a nationally recognized resource at the intersection of kids and social justice issues. Most recently, the brand gave away the ebook, “A Kids Book About School Shootings”, which was downloaded more than 30,000 times in a matter of days following the Uvalde elementary school massacre.
“Kids’ television is all about iconography; memorable characters who bring joy and warmth to the story and watching experience. And some of the most iconic, timeless characters in kids’ television came from The Jim Henson Company,” said Jelani Memory, CEO and founder of A Kids Company About. Dubbed “the Modern Mr. Rogers” by Fatherly, Memory added, “we hope to emulate the kind of generational impact of the characters that Jim Henson created, like the Muppets and Fraggles, while featuring diverse voices and experiences like we do in our books.”
“Many of today’s kids are deeply aware of the most serious challenges and risks that are a threat to them each day. As producers, we have an opportunity to provide the resources and trusted information, and – above all – to inspire the radical hope that kids need in order to see themselves as part of their community and feel empowered to make the changes they want to see in their world”, said Sidney Clifton, Sr. Vice President of Animation and Mixed Media at The Jim Henson Company who will oversee the project’s development.
A Kids Show About will be produced by The Jim Henson Company, with Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford executive producing. Memory and Dan Ilani of A Kids Company About will also executive produce.
