The friendship show

PreS-Gr 1-This series promotes kids' social and emotional development, and this episode explores friendship based on the concept of the golden rule: treat others as you would like to be treated. Ruby, played by Kelsey Collins, is well-spoken, talented, energetic, and friendly. Alternating between addressing the at-home audience and a group of four culturally diverse school-age kids in her studio, Ruby amiably dances, sings, giggles, chats, and winks her way through the lessons. She sits with the in-studio children while they work on an easily replicable art project, asking for their perspectives and sharing her own ideas about friendship. Interspersed with the live-action segments are animated shorts, often featuring catchy original tunes. There's nothing subtle about the message here, but that's really the point. Kids will come away with techniques for demonstrating friendship, exercising compromise, and confronting bullies. The show in its entirety can also be viewed with pop-up parenting tips such as "Be sure to notice and praise your child openly for being a good friend." VERDICT Although overt, the messaging about friendship is not heavy-handed, and children will ask to watch this again and again.-Jennifer Verbrugge, Minnesota Department of Education, Roseville, MN (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.