Who is WordGirl and what’s she all about?

WordGirl is a new animated series that follows the every day life and superhero adventures of “WordGirl” as she fights crime and enriches vocabulary usage, all in a day’s work. Disguised as mild-mannered 5th grader, Becky Botsford, WordGirl arrived on planet Earth when she and her monkey sidekick, Captain Huggy Face, crashed their spaceship. In classic superhero form, WordGirl possesses superhero strength with the added benefit of a colossal vocabulary. WordGirl has a family and friends who have no idea of her secret identity. As WordGirl, she battles and prevails over evil (albeit ridiculous and comical) villains. Each hilarious episode introduces new vocabulary words that are carefully interwoven into silly and fun stories.

What are WordGirl’s superpowers?

Unsurpassable vocabulary, able to bend steel, fly at the speed of sound, and pause clocks long enough to prolong bedtime.

Who are the characters on WordGirl?

WordGirl has a number of friends and foes, and of course, one faithful sidekick who happens to be a monkey, Captain Huggy Face. WordGirl’s worst enemies include Dr. Two-Brains: a mad scientist who accidentally fused his brains with a lab rat; The Butcher: a crook who constantly “butchers” the English language; Granny May: an ornery criminal who tricks people into thinking she’s a hard- of- hearing, kindly grandmother; Chuck the Evil Sandwich Making Guy: another bad guy with a ‘hunger’ to destroy the city; and, Tobey: a child genius who often uses robots to decimate the city in order to get WordGirl’s attention.

WordGirl’s friends and family include her adopted parents and brother, Tim and Sally and TJ Botsford, respectively; her best friend Violet: a kind and caring, absentminded art prodigy; Todd “Scoops” Ming: a school news reporter out to discover the true identity of WordGirl; and of course, The Announcer: critical to any classical superhero story of this genre.

Who is WordGirl for?

Everyone! But WordGirl is mostly concentrating on students age 4-9.

“What are kids going to learn from WordGirl? Why is vocabulary important?”

WordGirl is a funny show that aims to enrich children’s vocabularies and close the gap between those who don’t grow up in language rich environments and those who do. Having a large and varied vocabulary is empowering. Being able to select appropriate words enables kids to speak more articulately and write more clearly. Understanding the meaning of words is essential to aural and reading comprehension. WordGirl provides the model of a superhero who values words and recognizes the power of language to help save the day.

How can WordGirl be useful to teachers and parents?

Parents and teachers want children to be able to succeed in school and life. They know that people who possess strong language skills have an advantage in academic and work settings. Children and adults with strong vocabularies can express themselves with clarity and precision in both speech and writing. They can understand and assess what they hear and read.

Parents and teachers also want to foster a life-long love of language since reading, listening, speaking and writing are sources of great pleasure and knowledge. WordGirl unabashedly loves language and its many uses. She serves as an excellent role-model for children.