Readalong
Readalong was an educational, Canadian television program for young children, first produced in 1976 for TVOntario.
The program taught fundamentals of reading with the help of live child actors and puppets, including a comically dressed grandmother figure named Granny and anthropomorphic footwear: a brown, male boot and pink, female shoe named, appropriately, Boot (voiced by Jack Duffy) and Pretty. Other characters were Mister Bones, the Explorer, House, and the Thing.
The program was a marketing hit for TVOntario and had strong international sales lasting many years.
The Granny, Boot, and Pretty puppets are now housed at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Noreen Young, who designed the puppets, also created puppets for other programs, including Under the Umbrella Tree. The characters were developed by Ken Sobol, who also wrote all the scripts for the series. The show's music was composed by Eric Robertson.
Credits
- Children: Reena Schellenberg, Moira Knott, Bobby Prochaska, Eric Braslis, Adrian Rajaram
- Puppeteers: Noreen Young, Bob Dermer, Nina Keogh
- Voices: Max Ferguson, Jack Duffy, Julie Amato
- Music: Eric Robertson
- Animation: Bill Reed, Patricia Crudden, John Leach, Bill Borg
- Editors: Brian Elston, Paul Spencer, Doug Beavan, Bob Baker
- Writer: Ken Sobol
- Educational Supervisors: Ruth Vernon, Jennifer Harvey
- Production Assistant: Jeannie Mougeot, Janice Newland, Frances Revell
- Producer/Director: Peter McLean, Chris Homer, Jeremy Pollock