Just a quick, official note to all you readers, avid and otherwise. All good things must come to an end, etc., so this is my last official post for Smart News. The wacky-n-great kids’ TV info will still keep coming, of course, so by no means do you need to delete this URL from your bookmarks. Some fantabulous blogger will be taking the reins any second now. Simply think of him/her as “The New Becky” and… enjoy.

–Posted by Stephanie Booth

Suitable that our economy is going to the dogs. After all, this Saturday, Oct. 4, is World Animal Day! To celebrate, the two-legs at National Geographic Kids Entertainment are partnering with zoos across the country and its very cute, animated preschool show, Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies, to bring you some kid-friendly edutainment: premiere screenings of Mama Mirabelle, art projects, and – our favorite – photo workshops for preschoolers taught by real live National Geographic photogs. If you live in Tacoma or Tampa, head over to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium or Lowry Park Zoo on Saturday to participate. The following weekend, events will be held at the Dallas Zoo and San Francisco Zoo.

Can’t make it? Have your kiddo take a photo of her fave animal, and upload it www.mamamirabelle.com. Who knows? She may win something called a “prize pack.” Normally, that translates into “useless garbage and choking hazards.” But because it’s provided by National Geographic and Fisher-Price, we’re (slightly) more optimistic.

Think we’re cheating you out of more details? See for yourself here.

And edutain yourself more about World Animal Day right about here.

–Posted by Stephanie Booth

If you want to know what really goes on behind the scenes of Sesame Street, or better yet, how you can get a piece of that action, circle Tuesday, November 18, on your calendar. (Or put it in your Blackberry, whatever.) That’s the evening a sure-to-be-fascinating panel discussion about the longest-running (and most respected) kids’ show will take place at the Apollo Theater in New York. The topic: “Breaking into Kids’ Media: How to Get to Sesame Street.” Participants will include executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente, research director Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, Sonia Manzano (“Maria”), and producer/director/”Elmo” performer Kevin Clash.

Cool, right? And did we mention it’s free? Register here. And email us details if you run into Cookie Monster in the lobby. We’re so sure he’s actually like the character he plays on TV!

–Posted by Stephanie Booth

Nothing like a good, old-fashioned, um, chicken party. If you’ve been hankering for chicken – and that would be a cute puppet chicken with a kid-friendly personality, not the greasy fast food kind I craved when I was pregnant –  you’re in luck! From 6:00-9:00 p.m. ET, PBS KIDS Sprout’s The Sunny Side-Up Show will be celebrating the birthday of co-host Chica the Chicken with party games (hopefully not “Pin the Tail on the Chicken”) and a few live musical performances, including one by kids’ rockers The Dream Jam Band, warblers of such hits as “Nicky Nicky Knock Knock” and “Cow.” (We’re hoping that last one isn’t a ballad.)

If you and your preschooler want to participate, go to SproutOnline.com for info on how to upload birthday artwork, video or email wishes. Per The Sunny Side-Up Show’s very cool interactive philosophy, a live onscreen crawl during tomorrow’s program will feature all the submissions. (Kiddos will also be able to call in live to say “Happy Birthday.” Whether they’d like to mumble, scream or throw out a random comment, “My daddy’s wearing two different socks today,” – is , of course, entirely up to them.)

Insert your own chicken-cross-the-road joke here. We won’t cry fowl.

–Posted by Stephanie Booth

Kristen Howerton, cofounder of Mama Manifesto, a very cool community blogs for moms, explains after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

If you keep sneaking into the living room to catch glimpses of the latest TV hyperbole news about the upcoming election, relax. While you might be horrified at the mud-slinging going on (and would hopefully give your kids a time-out if they were acting as sleazy and underhanded as, say, Steve Schmidt) you don’t have to keep politics a secret from your kid.

Paul Nyhan, who blogs over at Working Dad for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer,  explains. And much, much more even-handedly than we would.

–Posted by Stephanie Booth

We don’t know what we found most interesting about this NYT article about the Walt Disney Company’s push to make the Muppets relevant again. Could it be the fact that the Muppets will now gently address such important topics as healthy living and the environment? Or that F.A.O. Schwarz will begin allowing customers to design their own Muppets for a mere hundred bucks? All good, but the #1 bit of primo information has to be that the upcoming Muppet flick will be penned by none other than Jason Segel. You might know him as the writer/star of the raunch-rom-com Forgetting Sarah Marshall or Marshall on How I Met Your Mother. To us, though, he’ll always be Nick Andopolis. And that’s a good thing. What else are the Muppets if not freaks and geeks?

–Posted by Stephanie Booth

Cute New Show Alert: Chapman Entertainment, the brains behind Bob the Builder, have a new animated program for preschoolers: Roary the Racing Car. It’ll be, ahem, roaring towards you on Monday, Oct. 13 on PBS Kids Sprout. A few bits of goodness about the show:

• It’s narrated by Sam Hornish, Jr., one of the most successful drivers in the recent history of open-wheel racing. (NASCAR and stuff.)

• The show has the same fun, modern-Claymation-y feel as Bob the Builder. (See for yourself in the clip below.)

• And although we find it off-putting that Roary’s name is constantly followed by ™ in the press release – as in, you’re soon going to be seeing images of this lovable single-seater on everything from Band-Aids to socks – the show’s all about teaching positive messages (like doing the right thing and being optimistic) and building social skills.

If you’ve got an impatient offspring (with or without a lead foot), check out Sproutonline.com next week for Roary-related activities, clips, games, and print-outs.

–Posted by Stephanie Booth

Does your family have GUTS? Nickelodeon’s hoping the answer is yes. The channel’s new series – a half-hour extreme sports reality show called My Family’s Got GUTS – premiered on Monday. Sorry, we’re a little slow on the uptake. But it should be easy to forgive us because the show’s airing on Nickelodeon at 8:00 ET/PT every weeknight until next Friday, Sept. 26. An hour-long finale will premiere Saturday, Sept. 27 at the same time.

So why are we recommending this show? Families. Working together. And doing some crazy-$#@@ extreme sports challenges that the writers must have had a hilarious time coming up with. “Dude! Let’s make the parents go down an aerial sports board-riding slalom run!” “No, no! Bungee-jumping basketball!”

Personally, what we’re looking forward to is the urban landscape parkour challenge. Nothing brings a mom and her tween closer then cat leaps and kong vaults.

Plan B: just live vicariously and watch this show together.

–Posted by Stephanie Booth

If what we see on the PBS Kids website is any indication, the November election will come down to what people love more: animals, or the idea of a woman – any woman — being (vice) president. When PBS asked tweens what qualities make a good president, most trotted out the usual answers: Presidents should be helpful, smart and work hard to get along with people in other countries. (Poor Bush! He can’t even meet middle-schoolers’ expectations.)

But Ben, 12, also said he would make boring books illegal. (Advantage, Palin.) And Mac, 10, said it was time a woman was in the White House. (Another point for the McCain ticket.) That said, Ann, 9, believes the next POTUS should be nicer to animals and Luca, 12, wants it to be a crime to kill any animal. That totally doesn’t bode well for, ahem, female hunters who have enormous bear hides displayed in their office.

So where does that leave us? XX chromosomes: +2. Hunting: -2. Yep, it’s going to be a close race.

This is all a very roundabout way of advising you check out PBS Kids’ website for lots of politically intriguing info and activities for your kiddo. That way, they’ll have a better chance of understanding why lately, your face gets red and steam comes out of your ears when you catch the “news” on TV.