Credit: Courtesy of © 2012 WGBH Educational Foundation. All characters and underlying materials (including artwork) copyright by Marc Brown. Arthur, D.W., and the other Marc Brown characters are trademarks of Marc Brown. Used with permission.
Review

App Review: D.W.’s Unicorn Adventure

Credit: Courtesy of © 2012 WGBH Educational Foundation. All characters and underlying materials (including artwork) copyright by Marc Brown. Arthur, D.W., and the other Marc Brown characters are trademarks of Marc Brown. Used with permission.

Eva and I were given a copy of the latest PBS Kids iPad app. This is the first app from the PBS series Arthur. The app is a side scrolling gamer where Arthur’s sister D.W. rides a magical unicorn across the screen and jumps to eat healthy foods that are all the colors of the rainbow. By consistently catching the healthy food the unicorn keeps her energy up. But if you run into the unhealthy sugary or salty snacks your unicorn ends up losing energy.

Credit: Courtesy of © 2012 WGBH Educational Foundation. All characters and underlying materials (including artwork) copyright by Marc Brown. Arthur, D.W., and the other Marc Brown characters are trademarks of Marc Brown. Used with permission.

The app is pretty simple, good for the age range of 4-6 year olds. Eva had fun playing it. She is always asking us if this food is healthy or that food is healthy in her everyday life. She can see in this game what foods are healthy and which are not. Then she is telling us what is healthy and what is not. She picked up the game play quickly too. She was able to make the unicorn jump and super jump without issue. She made her way through a number of lower levels and as she continues to play she gets better and better at it.

PBS KIDS GO! and WGBH DEBUT FIRST APP FROM ARTHUR SERIES
D.W.’s Unicorn Adventure App for iPhone and iPod touch Encourages Healthy Eating

ARLINGTON, VA, March 29, 2012 – PBS and WGBH today announced the first app from the PBS KIDS GO! series ARTHUR – D.W.’s Unicorn Adventure for iPhone and iPod touch, available now on the App Store. Funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and produced by WGBH, D.W.’s Unicorn Adventure encourages nutritious snacking for kids ages 4-6, and ARTHUR fans of all ages. In the app, players have the opportunity to help Arthur’s little sister D.W. save a lost unicorn using the power of healthy foods.

“PBS is committed to helping kids learn and grow through healthy food choices,” said Lesli Rotenberg, Senior Vice President, Children’s Media, PBS. “D.W.’s Unicorn Adventure App is the latest addition to our resources across platforms – from online games, to on-air programming, to offline activities – that help families lead healthy and active lives.”

“D.W.’s Unicorn Adventure combines highly engaging mobile game play with a simple yet critical nutritional message: healthy snacks give you the energy to complete your grandest adventures – including those involving unicorns!” added Christine Zanchi, Executive Producer, Interactive, Children’s Media, WGBH.

D.W.’s Unicorn Adventure Features
In D.W.’s Unicorn Adventure App, D.W. must help a lost unicorn make his way from Elwood City to Unicornia. To do this, players gallop, jump, and super-jump through three fantastical worlds – Forest, Castle, and Clouds – with 12 levels of increasing difficulty.

To fuel the adventure, players need to eat a rainbow of energy-packed snacks. Players are encouraged to eat all the colors of the rainbow by collecting 12 kinds of fruits and veggies: strawberries and apples; oranges and carrots; bananas and pineapples; bell peppers and broccoli; blueberries and plums; and grapes and eggplant.

The game also teaches kids foods to avoid. For example, players need to stay away from junk food, so that they will not lose energy and can continue to advance in the game. The six kinds of junk food that will hinder performance include: sodas, chips, cookies, donuts, french fries, and candy bars.

“At PBS we continue to extend the reach of our content in the mobile space, giving families the educational content they expect from us on a platform that is available to them wherever they are,” said Jason Seiken, Senior Vice President, Interactive, Product Development, and Innovation, PBS.

Funded by CPB, D.W.’s Unicorn Adventure App is available for $1.99 from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

PBS KIDS has 16 apps available in the App Store, covering curricular areas ranging from literacy, to science, to math, and more. Through mobile applications as well as online games, classroom resources, on-air programming, and curriculum-based toys, PBS KIDS offers educational content to all of America’s children wherever they live, learn and play. More information about PBS KIDS’ apps is available on pbskids.org/mobile.

A demo video of the app is available at: pbskids.org/mobile/dws-unicorn-adventure.html.

About ARTHUR
ARTHUR, the longest running kids animated series on television, chronicles the adventures of Arthur, an eight-year old aardvark, his family (including his little sister, DW) and his friends through engaging, emotional stories that explore issues from a kid’s point of view. The TV series and its supporting web site at pbskids.org/arthur are designed to foster an interest in reading and writing, and to encourage positive social skills. Over the past 15 seasons, Arthur has remained one of the highest rated weekday series on PBS, and has won numerous awards, including the George Foster Peabody Award, a BAFTA and six Daytime Emmys®. Visit the series website at http://pbskids.org/arthur

About WGBH Boston
WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcasting producer, the source of one-third of PBS’s prime-time lineup along with some of public television’s best-known lifestyle shows, many public radio favorites, and a roster of children’s programs that empower kids with innovative, entertaining, curriculum-based content. Among the WGBH-produced children’s titles: Arthur, Curious George, Postcards from Buster, Between the Lions, Design Squad Nation, Martha Speaks and Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman. WGBH is the number-one producer of websites on pbs.org, one of the most trafficked dot-org websites in the world, and a pioneer in educational multimedia and in technologies and services that make media accessible to the 36 million Americans who rely on captioning or video descriptions. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, DuPont-Columbia Awards, and even two Oscars. In 2002, WGBH received a special institutional Peabody Award for 50 years of excellence. For more information, go to http://www.wgbh.org/.

About PBS KIDS GO!
PBS KIDS GO! offers early elementary children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, online and community-based programs. For more information on specific PBS KIDS GO! content supporting literacy, science, math and more, visit PBS.org/pressroom, join our community online on Twitter and Facebook, or visit PBSKIDSGO.org.