Square Eyes: A Guide to English Language Kids Programmes Part 2

Chloe is becoming more and more of a telly addict although I try to only let her watch between half an hour to an hour a day. This means that I am discovering more and more British cartoons and TV programmes on Spanish satellite TV. I‘m not sure what Chloe‘s favourite programme is yet but one of our favs is Ben and Holly‘s Little Kingdom.(If you click on this link, it´ll take you to the official web page with stories, games,activities etc..) This is an animated cartoon about a fairy princess, Holly, and Ben, an elf and their adventures. I think it´s shown on Clan and on NickJr. Holly is often casting magic spells which don‘t turn out quite right and the cartoon is often humourous.
Another British programme I‘ve recently discovered is Olive the Ostrich, a cartoon about Olive the Ostrich´s  and her friends adventures. I‘ve only seen this once so can't tell you much about it but it seemed like a nice cartoon. Rolf Harris, a famous Australian entertainer, narrates the cartoon so you have both British and an Australian accent.You can find out more about this cartoon in this review.You can watch this cartoon on Nick Jr on Spanish satellite TV.

Ha-Ha Hairies is another new discovery so I can´t tell you that much about it.From what I can gather from the few times,I´ve seen it is that it´s about two animated fairies,one boy and one girl who narrate the story of the Ha Ha Hairy Family,played by actors.It seems like it´s for older chidren than Chloe maybe but she will still sit still and watch it.It is shown on Cartoonito.Again a British cartoon so is full of British accents.
      The Hive,or La Colmena Feliz as it´s known in Spanish, is a lovely cartoon about a colony of bees with the main characters being Buzzbee and his family and friends and the usual matters or problems that occur to children on a day-to-day basis such as playing,being friendly and spending time with your family etc.It is shown on Disney Jr but again I haven´t seen it that much due to the time it is shown at.

In The Nightgarden is another very popular British cartoon, which is shown on Clan (El Jardín de los sueños in Spanish)and is about the characters Igglepiggle,Upsy Daisy, Makka Pakka, the Tombliboos and The Pontipines and The Wottingers. It is a mixture of actors dressed in costumes, puppetry and animation and is aimed at calming children down. There is a lot of repitition and the programme is quite long. I have to say that I am not a fan and apart from the narrater, the characters don´t speak a lot and most of what they say is gibberish and there are quite a lot of invented words.It hasn´t seemed to hold Chloe´s attention for very long either although as I have said before,it is a huge hit in Britain and with the majority of children.

That´s all for now.I´ll be on the lookout for more British cartoons and TV programmes on Spanish TV. I hope you´ve enjoyed this brief guide and found it useful!