To help young children learn reading skills, the Canadian series The Magic Library used animation and puppetry to bring to life the joy, mystery, adventure and sorrow awaiting between the pages of a book.
The show – designed for schools – featured a puppet rabbit and a trio of puppet mice named Leon, Zazi and little Norbert, who proved so popular that they were eventually spun off into their own series, Bookmice.
As the storyteller read the books, the characters came to life, helping children perceive literature as more than words.
Periodically, questions would be asked of the young viewers, predicting what would come next or recalling what had happened so far. This was intended to motivate viewers to complete the book themselves or perhaps read similar books.
Farzad Sadrian
Billy Van
Marsha Moreau
Noam Zylberman
Steven Andrade
Malika Mendez
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