GRAND HAVEN, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--School Zone Publishing, the leading expert in children’s educational workbooks, flash cards and software for over three decades, announces the debut of its first-ever educational video series for kids called “Charlie & Company™.” Developed for children in preschool through first grade, Charlie & Company offers an engaging mix of animation, educational lessons, and sing-along music. Charlie & Company episodes are available exclusively on the School Zone Little Scholar™.
Created by School Zone Executives Jonathan Hoffman and Barbara Peacock, Charlie & Company videos feature original scores and music by the award-winning, highly acclaimed musician, Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe. Through music, songs, dialogue, and characters in the videos, Charlie & Company teaches kids that a School Zone can be anywhere they want it to be and learning can happen at any time.
The stars of the show are a golden retriever named Charlie and his teacher Miss Ellie, who is played by the award-winning actress Danielle Augustine. In each episode, Charlie and Miss Ellie take a “learning adventure,” an exciting trip to a surprise location full of entertainment and teachable moments. Charlie and Miss Ellie learn important educational skills and valuable lessons about friendship from the people they encounter at each destination.
The cast of Charlie & Company includes Charlie’s animated friends: Lily Longlegs, a very fit frog; Socrates, a wise owl; Autumn Red Squirrel, a nutty squirrel; Violet Ringtail, a rascal of a raccoon; Nestor Fields, a dapper field mouse; Levi Cottonwood, a not-so-bashful beaver; Jaz, a glamorous tiger; and Oba, a bear that loves the letters of the alphabet. Each episode includes a “puzzle-it-out” question of the day that makes Charlie, a real dog, magically turn into an animated dog that joins his animated friends that help him solve each puzzle. Through live action and top-notch animation, the series explores many early learning concepts in math, reading, and spelling for its young audience.
“We are proud to introduce our first educational video series – a true benchmark in our over three decades of business,” says Jonathan Hoffman, President of School Zone. “Children will not only delight in Charlie & Company, parents will feel confident that their kids are viewing videos with real educational value.”
Charlie & Company debuted on November 21, 2013, which is the same release date of the School Zone Little Scholar learning tablet. Tablets come pre-loaded with four 22-minute episodes of Charlie & Company — no extra downloads or purchases are required. Video episodes include:
- Hot Dog: Charlie & Company visits a fire station with real-life firefighters to search for puzzle clues and learn colors, shapes, numbers, and plenty of new words.
- Sound Bite: Charlie & Company meets a high school orchestra and discovers categories for the different instruments, such as the percussion and brass families.
- A Fitness Tail: Charlie & Company visits a gym, where they exercise and learn to count by 2s, 5s, and 10s.
- K9 Kitchen: Charlie & Company joins a chef in a commercial kitchen where they build yummy snacks and counting skills, as well as practice writing numbers.
Charlie & Company episodes can be viewed on the School Zone Little Scholar, which retails for $199.99. For more information on Charlie & Company and the School Zone Little Scholar, please visit: buylittlescholar.com.
