Between the Lions

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Between the Lions
Created by Lou Berger
Christopher Cerf
Michael K. Frith
Kathryn Mullen
Linda Rath
Norman Stiles
Starring Fred Newman
Dr. Ruth Westheimer
Pam Arciero
Anthony Asbury
Heather Asch
Jennifer Barnhart
Tyler Bunch
James Kroupa
Peter Linz
Tim Lagasse
Kathryn Mullen
Country of origin United States
Location(s) New York City, New York (2000-2004)
Jackson, Mississippi (2004-2010)
Original channel PBS Kids (2000-2004)
PBS Kids Go! (2004-2010)
Original run April 3, 2000 – November 22, 2010[1]
External links

Between the Lions was a PBS Kids puppet television series designed to promote reading. The show was a co-production between WGBH in Boston and Sirius Thinking, Ltd., in New York City, in association with Mississippi Public Broadcasting, in Mississippi. The show has won seven Daytime Emmy awards between 2001 and 2007. The target audience is children 5–8 years old. It has the same puppet style as Sesame Street[2] and several season 2 episodes, notably in Dance in Smarty Pants, had a few characters from Sesame Street guest appearing. The show premiered on April 3, 2000, replacing The Puzzle Place. Between the Lions started its 10th and final season on September 20, 2010 and the series finale aired on November 22 of that same year. It aired on PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go!.


The series focuses on a family of anthropomorphic lions operating and living in a large, busy library starring alongside a cast of unusual characters such as Click, an electronic, anthropomorphic computer mouse. The program's format is intended to promote literacy and reading, and is perhaps most notable for sections of every episode in which the lions introduce an existing picture book to the audience and read it, a book that often presents a moral. Some episodes even have featured adaptions of well-known folk-tales or ancient myths or fables, while others have featured popular storybooks such as 'Click, Clack, Moo! Cows that Type', or shown the lions learning or benefiting from the lessons presented by the story. Aside from this, the series often features an array of educational segments formatted each in its own distinctive style, particularly parodies of well-known media redesigned educationally for younger audiences or simple animations, some sketches more repetitive than others. A distinctive feature of the series is that it is virtually never set outside of the library, as it usually chronicles the lions' experiences within it. Another segment features a pair of pigeons named Walter and Clay comically infuriating a living bust of the library's deceased founder, Mr. Busterfield, located in an upper section of the library, that is normally intended for comic relief.


Senator Robert Byrd with Cleo on Between the Lions

The main characters are the lion cubs Lionel (7 years old and in 1st grade) and Leona (4 years old) and their parents Theo (Theodore) and Cleo (Cleopatra), who read stories to the cubs in almost every episode, so they can get wild about reading.

Barnaby B. Busterfield III - A grumpy, armless, and legless rock statue that is the founder of the library, which is named after him, and lives on the second floor. He is often left annoyed by the antics of Walter and Clay Pigeon and, being a statue, can't go anywhere. He is more annoyed by the pigeons calling him "Buster" since he hates being called that for some reason. It is unknown if he knows the main characters or not, but it is possible that he might know them.

Walter and Clay Pigeon - The two birds that Barnaby talks to, and they talk to (and annoy) him. That's why he says, "don't call me Buster!" Walter and Clay Pigeon are true urban birds, but let's just say that they're not the brightest lights in the sky—without each other's help, they might never manage to complete their own thoughts (for example, the Pigeons say, "We are going roller . . . uh . . . skating.").

Dr. Alexander Graham Nitwhite (often mispronounced as "Dr. Nitwit", which he hates being called, by his duck assistant, Watson and sometimes by other characters: a regular routine has Theo and Cleo saying hello to "Dr. Nitwit" and when they are corrected (Nitwhite) they proclaim "Right...") is a pelican scientist. In his skits, he announces to Watson that he's discovered "the only word in the entire English language" with a certain letter combination (which is nearly always related to the lesson of the whole episode). However, his "discoveries" always turn out to be incorrect, as Watson inadvertently points out; as such, his nickname is rather apt.

Information Hen - The library's information specialist. Each time she appears, she gives information about the library and reading to various callers.

Click - A live computer mouse shaped after the rodent of the same name. Click is a very high tech mouse in the fact that she can drag and drop objects and characters into and out of books and websites. When a character needs her, they only need to call out her name (usually screaming if it's an emergency) since she doesn't mind helping others and will do what they tell her what to do. Her only hindrances are, being a computer mouse, she must always stay connected to a computer and that she is vulnerable to computer viruses, as shown in one episode.

Heath the Thesaurus - The library's thesaurus who is literally a giant dinosaur (a sauropod dinosaur-a Brontosaurus) as a pun on the word "thesaurus" or "the saurus" He often shows up unexpectedly when a character asks about a homophonic word or when a situation is called for one.

Grandpa Lion - Cleo's father and Lionel and Leona's maternal grandfather and also the father-in-law of Theo. He visits the library in Out in Outer Space and tells of his friend Ellen Ochoa the first Hispanic American woman in Outer Space. Lionel and Leona even made a biography of Grandpa Lion.

Aunt Priscilla and Uncle Otto Lion - Lionel and Leona's aunt and uncle who were told by Leona that they had 3 new cubs in But Mama But in which Leona visited in the episode. It would be that Aunt Priscilla and Uncle Otto would be Cleo's younger sister and brother and would be the maternal aunt and uncle of Lionel and Leona and the sister-in-law and brother-in-law of Theo Lion.

Humorous content[edit]

Between the Lions often makes wild parodies of (often children's) programming. The title itself is a twofold pun, first on the phrase "between the lines", the second is that many classic library buildings have two lions separated by the main entrance. Thus in order to enter the library, you must go "between the lions". Some recurring segments include:

The Monkey Pop-Up Theatre[edit]

A monkey with blonde hair (monkeys are often featured as background characters or library patrons in this series) opens a pop-up book which presents a zany musical performance by monkeys who sing in operatic voices.

The Vowelles[edit]

Three lips, 3 colors along with satin gloves and wigs to perform some vowel songs for an audience, The Vowelles are usually accompanied by Johnny Consananti and Martha Reader, In Season 1, the stage backdrop is not lit, leaving viewers to see only lips, and usually satin gloves and feather boas, and hair. In season 2, the abstract stage background is later replaced with a colorful silver background obviously revealing that The Vowelles are merely three pairs of lips surrounded by wigs, and usually accompanied by satin gloves and feather boas.

The Word Doctor with Dr. Ruth Wordheimer[edit]

Dr. Ruth Westheimer plays "Dr. Ruth Wordheimer", a friendly therapist. Her two types of clients are:

  • Monkeys who need help reading or understanding long or difficult words (they are having a "long word freakout").
  • Words that are dissatisfied with their current meaning. (By replacing certain well-chosen letters, Dr. Wordheimer is able to give the word a new meaning and a new lease on life.)

Little Wendy Tales[edit]

In an animesque segment, a girl with blue eyes and black hair tied in pigtails reads the misadventures found in Little Wendy Tales when sitting next to her white cat Cuddly Kitty. In classic fashion, the big-eyed girl and Cuddly Kitty transform themselves into The Punctuator and Emoticon the Cat (a parody of Sailor Moon, among other anime clichés) and saves Wendy by means of switching around the punctuation, altering the scene in the process. She rereads the altered adventures after correcting the sentences.

Fun with Chicken Jane[edit]

Fun with Chicken Jane is a parody of the famous Dick and Jane books for children. In this, two naive children, Scot and Dot, place themselves in harm's way. An intelligent chicken named Chicken Jane spells out an obvious solution to the problem. At the last moment the children get out of the way and Chicken Jane gets hurt instead. The theme song is a parody of the old Alka Seltzer jingle. When the skit starts, Scot, Dot and Chicken Jane come skipping down a dirt road to the jingle that goes "Look, look, see, see, coming down the lane. Here comes Scot, here comes Dot, here comes Chicken Jane!" When the skit is over, Scot and Dot head back up the road (Chicken Jane limping along behind with an injured wing) to "Look, look, see, see, going up the lane. There goes Scot, there goes Dot, there goes Chicken Jane!". Chicken Jane once fell out of one of the books, thanks to Leona while trying to grab it from Lionel as a fight, and ended up in several other books which is Colonial America, Sleeping Beauty and a cookbook written by Molly Stewpot (a reference to Martha Stewart) and they appear in A Wild Hare. The very demanding chef Molly sees Chicken Jane, and wants to use her in one of her recipes and ignores what Chicken Jane is saying. The book is then swatted at in an attempt for Chicken Jane to escape, while jelly is spilled onto Molly in a defeat and Leona succeeds in getting Chicken Jane back in her book.

The Adventures of Cliff Hanger[edit]

Cliff Hanger is a cartoon lantern-jawed outdoorsman usually featured hanging off the side of a cliff, holding onto a branch. Each episode presents Cliff with a preposterous situation of some kind, which he attempts to use to his advantage by reaching into his backpack, pulling out what he calls his "trusty survival manual", and following the instructions provided there. The instructions, though often highly unorthodox, usually prove successful, and Cliff briefly escapes from the cliff. But, inevitably, another highly unlikely incident occurs that leaves Cliff back where he started, hanging onto his branch once again. The cartoon then ends with Cliff's baleful catchphrase: "Can't... hold... on... much... longer!" Much like Warner Bros./Chuck Jones created Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, these cartoon clips follow along the same story line; although Cliff never gives up on trying to get off the cliff, he never succeeds.

Each segment begins and usually ends with a theme song sung by a formally dressed group of singers that flies by in a helicopter, singing "Cliff Hanger, hanging from a cliff! And that's why he's called Cliff Hanger!" Cliff attempts to attract their attention to his predicament by shouting "Excuse me!", but to no avail. In one episode, he apparently succeeds at drawing their attention, and they rescue him, but it turns out he is simply dreaming. He once got off the cliff when he jumped on a whale's blowhole and washed up on a beach in "The Last Cliff Hanger" and Lionel is upset about the last book, but he got tired and, through a series of bizarre events (thanks to the writer, Livingston Dangerously), got himself back onto it.

In two episodes Cliff Hanger and the Solid Oil Lamp and Cliff Hanger and the Sheep on a Ship, Cliff Hanger imagines he is in a restaurant eating steak, he is in a bath tub and a starstruck door.

In another episode Lionel's friend Lenny, an alligator introduces a similarly styled series of books called Justin Time, about a stereotypical explorer named Justin Time who relaxes in a hammock until an absurd scenario like those of Cliff Hanger occurs, forcing him to intervene to restore the calm, boasting, "Couldn't be more comfortable." He too used a version of the Survival Manual, called a Safety Manual, which is from his Survival Kit, a version of Cliff Hanger's backpack and the same formally dressed Chorus, riding in the back of a Pickup truck introduces him at the beginning of the story, Singing "Justin Time, he's always saved just in time! and that is why he is called Justin Time!" . Ironically, Lionel disliked this series. Only one Justin Time segment was ever shown as it only appeared in one episode.

In the series, the character Lionel is a fan of Cliff Hanger books, which his sister Leona thinks are pointless.

Gawain's Word[edit]

A Wayne's World spoof featuring two jousting knights charging at each other, each touting a speech balloon with half of a word which then became their respective names, then demonstrating the word. For example, one skit featured "Sir ch" and "Sir air". When Sir ch collided into Sir air, their speech balloons melded together to form the word "chair." Then they took advantage of the word, by sitting on chairs. Though the title of the segment clearly is a parody of the Saturday Night Live skit, the two knights in the segment speak more characteristically like Bill & Ted from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure than Wayne & Garth from Wayne's World.

Tiger Words[edit]

A parody of golfer Tiger Woods. Tiger is always seen participating in a spelling competition (modeled off a golf tournament), where he will misspell a word. While the crowd and announcer are surprised and dismayed at his error, Tiger corrects his mistake by using another tool in his pencil bag (using an eraser to fix mistakes in pencil, or paint to fix mistakes in pen, for example). Tiger correctly spells the word, and wins the championship.

Sam Spud[edit]

A spoof of the Sam Spade detective stories, this segment portrays a par-boiled potato who types out the voice-over narration typical of film noir on a late night, making and correcting typographical errors that demonstrate word sounds. This segment makes heavy use of sight gags based on wordplay (such as the narrator referring to the entrance of a "tomato"—1930s slang for an attractive woman—who is revealed to be a real tomato wearing a costume; or a neon sign that blinks the words "Flicker Flicker" or "On" and "Off"). In most cases the segments would end with a live-action boy or girl watching Sam Spud on television and calling out to his or her mother that "there's a talking potato with a hat on and no mouth!" (or some variation), and the mother calling from offscreen telling her child not to worry and that it's educational television, so it must be good for him/her. But sometimes it would end with the mother telling it is not nice to say one of the words.

The Un-People vs. The Re-People[edit]

This cartoon is aimed at teaching kids their prefixes. The main character is "young" Monica Maxwell, a girl about 8 years old who seems to have an inordinate amount of trouble with a group of rambunctious rhinos. The segment always begins with the rhinos running amok, usually in Monica's house. The clever, resourceful girl somehow manages to subdue or round up the rhinos, for example, putting them in a zippered bag. All of a sudden, the evil Un-People come along and "un-zip" the bag, causing the rhinos to run free again and resume their rampage of destruction. But when the crime-fighting Re-People appear, they "re-zip" the bag and the destruction of the charging rhinos stops. This segment may be considered a parody of common superhero-themed cartoons such as the Justice League.

There are at least two skits that didn't feature rhinos—the "undressed"/"redressed" skit where a marching band is seen without clothes, only to get redressed in their outfits, and the "unzipped"/"rezipped" skit where Monica is seen playing in the snow, with her coat becoming unzipped and then finally rezipped.

Silent E[edit]

A sly criminal, Silent E, has the ability to make the vowel sounds say their names and changes the words without a silent e into words with a silent e, for example: he changes a cub (which resembles Leona) into a cube, a tub into a tube, a twin into a twine and a can into a cane.

In each segment, Silent E is carted off to jail by a policeman. Silent E then writes a note to the policeman, which usually reads something like, "Sure do like that pin/cap you're wearing! I would love to get a closer look!" The policeman then remarks, "Well, sure! I don't see any harm in that!" The policeman hands the object to Silent E, who then easily escapes by using either the policeman's pin and turning it into a pine to climb out the window or the policeman's cap and turning it into a cape to fly out the window. Either way, after that, the policeman shouts, "Well, Silent E, you may have slipped out of my grasp this time, but mark my words: I'll get you YET!!!!"

Vowel Boot Camp[edit]

In this segment, the soldiers, who are vowels (except the drill sergeant, who is an exclamation point), practice making their sounds and then go out to make words. The famous catchphrase is "This isn't Camp Nappy Packy Wacky Lake; this is Vowel Boot Camp!" He always ends up getting trampled by the vowels as they leave.

The Lone Rearranger Rewrites Again[edit]

A parody of The Lone Ranger, this animated segment features an intelligent, banana nose cowboy named The Lone Rerranger, (or Lone for short), with his horse Hiho, and his sidekick whose name is Russell-Upsome Grub, and a sentence which needs to be rearranged. For example, "Horses must ride cowboys into the corral" needs to be rearranged to say "Cowboys must ride horses into the corral". After Lone fixes the sentence with his whip, he, Hiho, and Russell leave and the people who did what the original sign said for them to do never get a chance to thank him or Russel, or something related to what happened.

Moby Duck[edit]

A parody of Moby-Dick, this takes place in a peapod (parody of Pequod) where there are two captains. The first is Captain Starbuck, the second Captain Ahab. Starbuck looks through a telescope and sees a white animal and yells, "Wait, Cap'n! Thar she quacks! Moby, the great white duck!" Captain Ahab takes a closer look and gives the tagline "Argh! That not be Moby, the great white duck! Argh!", and explains the differences and sounds out syllables, showing, for example, Daisy, the entertaining white snail. The 2 admit defeat before continuing their search. A running gag is the fact that they never look behind them, which is exactly where Moby is.

Blending Bowl[edit]

A kind of "bowl game" in which NFL players blend sounds to make words. It stars former NFL superstar quarterback Terry Bradshaw as a commentator. It is similar to Gawain's Word and Blend Mart but with a football setting.

Opposite Bunny[edit]

A superhero bunny who saves the day by turning bad things happening in the neighborhood back into good things. The segment ends with the neighbors reviewing the opposites. saying "First it was raw now it is cooked. How does that bunny do it!"

Arty Smartypants[edit]

A farcical and somewhat discombobulated man with large overalls (which he refers to as his "smarty pants"). He is the start of a few different segments:

  • "Magic Time With The Great Smartini": Arty puts two, three or four words in his pants and says a magic word like ebracadebra, or oobracadoobra, then dances to his song - "Ooh ahh, dance in smarty pants ooh agh" - until he has made a compound word and demonstrating it by showing/interacting with the meaning of the word. His assistant and mother is Marmy Smartypants. Due to the popularity of his dance, a short music video was made that featured Arty and various characters from the show (or from other PBS shows) wearing their own "smarty pants" and dancing to the song.
  • In some segments, he reads "four words without any assistance whatsoever". Four words appear in each corner of the screen and he points to them first with his hands, then with his feet. After realizing he is floating in the air, he comically comes crashing down.
  • "Not As Smart As A Puck": In this segment, Arty hosts a game show where the contestant wins if they can prove they are not as smart as a hockey puck.

Swami Marmy[edit]

This segment features Marmy Smartypants as a fortune teller who tells monkeys their future. In one segment she tells a monkey that his sister will drop in for a visit, after which she literally, drops in from above. In another segment, she simply tells a monkey "Oops!" after which Marmy knocks her crystal ball off the table and it rolls off and breaks.

Fred Says Segments[edit]

Fred Newman portraying himself appears onscreen sounding out a word syllable by syllable, after which he acts it or demonstrates it in his usual humor by attaching sounds to each syllable.

What's Cooking?[edit]

A cooking segment starring Theo and Cleo Lion as chefs. In each segment, they have a recipe and all the things they need (and a few they don't) in front of them with their names on them (For example, slammed and rammed ham with no yam or clam). They read the recipe step-by-step which usually involves getting rid of the extra ingredients and doing something (rather literally) to the main item before placing it in something. When they reached down to the last step that involves cooking the food for a certain amount of time, they just say "Nah" and eat it raw.

Replacing Letter Songs[edit]

Each song for the vowels such as "a" and "e", etc. This is sung in different words such as "Ben" and "hen". At the end a letter is replaced such as "t" and changes a letter to "ten".

Educational content[edit]

Between the Lions focuses on teaching reading and a love of books to young children in a fun, informative way.

Among the educational techniques used by Between the Lions are the following:

  • Featured Letters and Sounds: Every episode has a feature letter or sound, such as 'h' or 'the long ee sound'. Throughout the show, the featured letter or sound is heard and seen in a variety of words. In seasons 7 and 8, an ad shows what's coming up next followed by a hand grabbing a letter from the word from usually the first book.
  • Text on Screen: Frequently, key words or entire sentences of dialog are shown on screen as the characters talk, with the featured letter or combination highlighted. The grey glove then grabs or puts it back in its place after it's segment
  • Stories: Every episode contains one or more short stories in the form of books read by the Lion family. These stories tie in thematically with the rest of the episode and also serve as another way to present words with the featured sound in context. Sometimes the stories are real books (like "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble" by William Steig, "Joseph Had a Little Overcoat" by Simms Taback, and "The Carrot Seed" by Ruth Krauss) or well-known tales (like "Rumplestiltskin", "The Little Red Hen", and "The Gingerbread Man"); other times they are books that are made-up to fit the episode (like How Pecos Bill Cleans Up the West, What Instrument does Alvin Play?, and Lionel's favorite book, Nothing but Lug Nuts).
  • Songs: Silly but informative songs sum up the rules of English spelling and pronunciation in easy-to-remember ways, with lyrics like "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking" or "Even the blues would be blue without an s" and many others. Often the text of the song is shown on screen. The songs for the show are by Thomas Z. Shepard, Christopher Cerf, Sarah Durkee and Paul Jacobs.[3]
  • Animations and skits: A variety of animations and skits show how words are formed and how one word can be changed into another by adding or removing letters.
  • Definitions: Whenever a long or unusual word is used in a dialog or story, a quick definition is given. Usually, it is subtly worked into the conversation, such as when one of the parents responds to a question from the children. Other times it may be provided in a humorous way, such as when Heath Thesaurus pokes his head in to define a word. Occasionally words may be defined by showing pictures or other artistic methods.
  • Repeated Vocabulary: Various vocabulary words are introduced in each episode, ranging from simple, everyday concepts like "jump" and "read" to more complex words like "sequel", "dictionary", or "drought". After a word has been introduced, it is usually used a number of times throughout the episode.

In addition to teaching basic reading, pronunciation, and grammar skills, Between the Lions also strives to promote a general love of reading in its viewers. It explores the many subjects that books can cover and shows how different people may enjoy reading different things. It also demonstrates the value of reference books and the importance of reading in other everyday activities like using a computer, cooking with a recipe, or finding your way with street signs.

Some Between the Lions episodes also deal with larger episodes related to literary matters: How to handle the scary parts of a story, for example, or the fact that it's okay to be a little sad if something bad happens to a character that you like in a book. It also shows how children can use books as jumping points for their own imagination.

Above all, every character on the show expresses a contagious enthusiasm for reading, with the underlying message being "Reading is cool". (2001-2010)



Voice Cast[edit]

Emmy Awards[edit]

The series won many Emmy Awards. A more complete list is available from IMDB's page, Awards for "Between the Lions".[4] These awards include:

Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series - 2009

Executive Producers: Judith Stoia, Christopher Cerf, Norman Stiles, Brigid Sullivan. Series Producer: Beth Kirsch. Coordinating Producer: Rick Klein, Bill Berner, Diane Hartman, Chris Cardillo, Philippa Hall. Producer: Scott Colwell, Carol Klein.

Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series - 2008 & 2009

Norman Stiles, Ray Messecar, Peter K. Hirsch, Brian Meehl, Jennifer Hamburg, Sarah Durkee, Luis Santeiro, Christopher Cerf, Beth Kirsch, Fred Newman, Judith Stoia, Candy Kugel (PBS)

Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition - 2008 Nomination

Paul Jacobs, Sarah Durkee, Christopher Cerf

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design - 2008 Nomination

Christopher Cerf, Norman Stiles, Judith Stoia, Brigid Sullivan, Bill Berner, Chris Cardillo, Philippa Hall, Diane Hartman, Rick Klein, Scott Colwell, Beth Kirsch, Carol Klein (PBS)

Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series - 2008 Nomination

Laura Brock, Karen Wing, Jerel Levanway, Bill Reinhart, Jack Thomas, Mary Goodson, Ray Green, Jimmy Thrasher (PBS)

Composition - 2008 Nomination

Paul Jacobs, Sarah Durkee, Christopher Cerf (PBS)

Animated spin-off[edit]

An animated spin-off is yet to air, produced by CloudKid and consisting of four episodes. The first two will focus on nursery tales (The Ant and the Grasshopper and The Three Little Pigs), while the other will focus on seasons and weather (one about wind, the other about snow/winter).[5]

Guest stars[edit]

Guest stars from other series have appeared in Between The Lions. 3 castmembers of ZOOM have appeared, teaching viewers how to read the word "Zoom." Al Roker, Jasmine Guy, Denyce Graves, Vanessa L. Williams and Jane Seymour have made appearances to read words to the viewers as well as some athletes.

Home Video releases[edit]

Most VHS tapes and DVDs are released and distributed by WGBH, mostly with its video label, WGBH Boston Video from 2001 to 2004 on VHS and on Season 5-6 from 2005 to 2006. and on DVD in 2005 to present.

Season 1: 2000[edit]

# Title Original Airdate
1 "Pecos Bill Cleans Up the West (Season 1 Premiere)" April 3, 2000

The lions sing a song about how a cowboy caught a tornado, then start to bring him out to see how it's done in the library. Book read: How Pecos Bill Cleaned Up the West: A Tall Tale by Beth Western

The Vowelles: best/mess
2 "The Lost Rock" April 4, 2000

A rock named Rock (Larry is what Leona calls him) rolls out of a dictionary, but he doesn't remember, so the lions help him find it. The Vowelles: sock

Note: Martha Reader is not in this episode that always happens in episodes with short o.
3 "Little Big Mouse" April 5, 2000

Click the mouse feels left out when she and the lions read "The Lion and the Mouse" and start a fan club for the mouse in the story. Book read: The Lion and the Mouse by Aesop

The Vowelles: hit
4 "Farmer Ken's Puzzle" April 6, 2000

Lionel has a new computer game, but can't solve Farmer Ken's puzzle, due to the pigeons' lack of knowledge. Leona tries it herself and solves it perfectly.

The Vowelles: men
5 "Shooting Stars" April 7, 2000

The lions are watching a meteor shower, but find it hard to stay up. Book read: The Night of the Shooting Stars by Arlis Parknark

Note: This is the first episode in that The Vowelles were not shown
6 "The Hopping Hen" April 10, 2000

There are new weird rules in the library due to the printer not including the 'no's' in the rule signs, and it causes chaos everywhere.

Note: The word is found today in the Fred Newman segment.
7 "Touching the Moon" April 11, 2000

A queen in a book tries to touch the moon, but to no avail and Leona can't sleep thinking about it.

Book read: The Queen Who Wanted to Touch the Moon retold by Hootie Kaboodle
8 "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" April 12, 2000

A young shepherd from "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" wants to learn to watch sheep and Lionel and Leona help him, but gets carried away crying wolf. Book read: The Boy Who Cried Wolf by Aesop

The Vowelles: wig/it
9 "Fuzzy Wuzzy, Wuzzy?" April 13, 2000

Lionel gets annoyed by Fuzzy Wuzzy the Dancing Bear from Leona's book, who comes to life and causes a fan craze in the library. Book read: The Fuzzy Wuzzy Wuzzy Book illustrated by Buffy Huckabuck

The Vowelles: buzz
10 "Lionel's Antlers" April 14, 2000

Lionel finds antlers on his head and his family to get them off. Book read: Imogene's Antlers by David Small

The Vowelles: man
11 "To the Ship! To the Ship!" April 17, 2000

Leona gets upset Lionel and Walter won't her and Clay play pirates because they're girls. Book read: The Adventures of Mississippi Skip and his Pirate Ship by Ipswitch Clipspringer V

The Vowelles: lip
12 "The Chap with Caps" April 18, 2000

The lions help Babs Caplin, the famous author, come up with a good story. Book read: The Chap with Caps by Babs Caplin

The Vowelles: tap
13 "Pandora's Box" April 19, 2000

The cubs bring a box from Greek story about a woman that opens a box and unleashes the hiccups inside, and everyone in the library gets the hiccups. Book read:

The Vowelles: fox
14 "Lionel's Great Escape Trick" April 20, 2000
Lionel wants to escape like the Great Houdini, but goes into the website to talk to him in person. Meanwhile, Leona tries to use magic words in hopes of helping Lionel. The Vowelles: kick/fish
15 "There's a Fly in My Soup" April 21, 2000
The lions try help make Click laugh after telling a bunch of jokes. It doesn't work at first, but at the end, Click makes jokes of her own, and she finally does laugh. The Vowelles:my/cry
16 "The Popcorn Popper" April 24, 2000

A girl in a book called "The Popcorn Popper" tries a popcorn popper, but it won't stop popping because she can't read the instructions. The lions then take the popper out to eat popcorn, but lose the instructions to stop the popper until the library garden is flooded with popcorn.

The Vowelles:top
17 "Something Fishy" April 25, 2000
After convinced that eagles eat fish after Lionel reads her a "Cliff Hanger" book, Leona dresses up as one so that she could fly.
18 "Hug, Hug, Hug!" April 26, 2000
The lions read "Pygmalion" and help him learns that love makes statues came to life. The Vowelles: rug
19 "The Ram in the Pepper Patch" April 27, 2000
A ram escapes from a pepper patch and runs around in the library so he won't get sting from a bee, causing chaos in the library. The Vowelles:jam/ The A Song
20 "A Peck of Peppers" April 28, 2000
Lionel, Leona, and Babs try to make up a tongue twister by reading a book about Peter Piper picking pickled peppers. The Vowelles:pep/ The E song
21 "Sausage Nose" May 1, 2000
A woman in an old movie wishes for a sausage after she receives three wishes, but her husband gets annoyed by the wish, and accidentally wishes for the sausage on her nose, so they go to the library to help them decide what to wish for next, and the lions help them. The Vowelles: dish
22 "Red Hat, Green Hat" May 2, 2000
When Lionel reads a story about two men arguing about which color a woman's hat is whenever she passes by, Lionel soon realizes that by showing the hat to everyone will lead to the same way as the men's argue, so he has to show Leona what she's done and put everything right. The Vowelles: bed
23 This episode guide is in missing segments cut from PBS Kid's broadcast "The Lucky Duck" May 3, 2000
A duck is tired of being little and cute, so Lionel helps him since he can't take the cuteness either. The Vowelles: mud
24 "The Old Man" May 4, 2000
Babs writes a story about a man, but it needs improvement. The Vowelles:an/fan
25 "A King and His Hawk" May 5, 2000
When Lionel reads a story a king and his hawk, Leona tries to hide it because it has a sad ending when the king kills the hawk. Note: this episode was pulled from Sprout's and KQED's broadcast due to its criminal scenes of the king killing the hawk. The Vowelles: sing
26 "The Roar That Makes Them Run" May 8, 2000
Lionel and Leona try make their dad roar really loud, but he won't do it. The Vowelles: fun/up
27 "Piggyback, Piggyback" May 9, 2000
A king rides on his assistant's back to prevent his feet from getting dirty, which causes Leona to do the same with her dad. The Vowelles:pack/at Note: this is the only episode Lionel Lion is shown naked.
28 "The Fox and the Crow" May 10, 2000
The pigeons complain about a book, in which the fox out smarts a crow for a piece of cheese, so the cubs do a remake of the story in which the crow, who holds a very, very, very big piece of cheese in her beak and the fox tries to trick her into singing in hopes of her becoming the queen of all birds, to which the crow lets the cheese hit the fox in the head. The Vowelles: ox
29 "Giants and Cubs" May 11, 2000
Leona worries what might happen when Lionel reads a newspaper article about the baseball teams called the Giants and the Cubs and mistakes them both for she thinks they really are. The Vowelles: tub
30 "Be Bop (Season 1 Finale)" May 12, 2000
The lions make music in the library with all sorts of weird things, to which Barnaby B Busterfield III needs figure as well. The Vowelles:pop/hot
  • March 6, 2001 (3 Videos)
  • June 12, 2001 (2 Videos)
  • October 30, 2001 (Videos)

Season 2: 2001[edit]

No. Title Original airdate
31 "The Sad Dad (Season 2 Premiere)" April 2, 2001
Theo reads a story about a man who needs advice on how to get rid of some people in a crowded house, but his house keeps getting even more crowded.
32 "Humph! Humph! Humph!" April 3, 2001
Lionel gets a new buddy named Gus, who can't read, and has an issue like a camel that gains a hump for being so grumpy all the time.
33 "The Good Seed" April 4, 2001
A bee stings the computer and causes a virus all over the library. A boy tries to plant a seed, but the seed just won't grow.
34 "Icarus' Wings" April 5, 2001
The pigeons get the idea of making Busterfield wings from a mischievous boy and his father escapes from the clutches of an evil king.
35 "Zoop! Zoop!" April 6, 2001
A boy and his father work together to defeat an evil giant. Meanwhile, Leona gets scared of the giant and the family needs to her overcome her fears.
36 "Clickety-Clack, Clickety-Clack!" April 9, 2001
A farmer learns that his cows type. Theo also borrows the typewriter in order show the cubs how a typewriter works.
37 "Poetry Day" April 10, 2001
Walter and Clay learned about Poetry Day.
38 "Bobby the Hopping Robot" April 11, 2001
The lions assemble a robot, but can't seem to make the robot work.
39 "Teacher's Pet" April 12, 2001
Cleo comes down with a flu when she can't use her senses to tell if someone is sneaking up behind her.
40 "The Last Cliff Hanger" April 13, 2001
Lionel gets upset when the last Cliff Hanger book comes out because Cliff is off the cliff forever.
41 "Pebble Trouble" April 16, 2001
Leona hides under the table because something is troubling her (which hasn't been discussed throughout the episode). A donkey is not very careful with what he wishes for.
42 "Oh, Yes, It Can!" April 17, 2001
The lions start to hallucinate that everything in the library start to talk.
43 "Five, Six and Thistle Sticks" April 18, 2001
Lionel's best friend Lenny comes to visit, but Lionel becomes upset when he finds out Lenny does not like Cliff Hanger anymore.
44 "Bug Beard" April 19, 2001
The lions learns about natural habits.
45 "Trains and Brains and Rainy Plains" April 20, 2001
Lionel and Leona rode a train in a book, causing an illustrated fire in the library.
46 "Quest, Quest, Quest!" April 23, 2001
Babs comes the library, again, to write a story.
47 "The Spider and the Lie" April 24, 2001
Lionel and click writes a story about a crime genre.
48 "Why the Baboon's Balloon Went Ka-boom!" April 25, 2001
A pen (Theo's) that falls on the floor causes a chain reaction in the library.
49 "But, Mama, But..." April 26, 2001
Cleo is going away for a while, which causes the others to worry. A boy talks to his mother about her adventures in coming home.
50 "Dreaming Shakespeare" April 27, 2001
It's Shakespeare Day in the library.
51 "Rats" April 30, 2001
Leona learns that even words can be powerful, they shouldn't stop anyone.
52 "Tweet! Tweet!" May 1, 2001
The pigeons think they have dinosaur relatives.
53 "Good Night, Knight" May 2, 2001
Leona accidentally breaks a puppet, so she's asked to fill in.
54 "The Chess Mess" May 3, 2001
The Lions play a chess game in Wonderland (spoof of Alice in Wonderland).
55 "Stop That Chicken! (Season 2 Finale)" May 4, 2001
Chicken Jane escapes from her book and flies into other books.

Season 3: 2002[edit]

# Title Original Airdate
56 "Hay Day (Season 3 Premiere)" September 16, 2002
A girl gives deals to a troll to let him turn straw into gold thread.
57 "Pigs Aplenty" September 23, 2002
Cleo and Theo are going out, and Marmy Smartypants is Lionel and Leona's babysitters. When they decide to have a "Pig Party", Click thinks that a disaster is imminent.
58 "What Parakeets Need" September 30, 2002
59 "Too Cool" October 7, 2002
60 "You Can't Catch Me!" October 14, 2002
It's Leona's birthday and her family reads her the story of "The Gingerbread Man." However, she becomes very sad at the end of the story when he gets eaten by the fox.
61 "Huff and Puff" October 21, 2002
After hearing the story of "The Three Little Pigs," Leona writes a sequel in which the Big Bad Wolf gets better after getting his tail burned while Lionel's depicts him being brought back to life by a mad scientist and renamed "the Wolf-inator" who blows the brick house down and is chased away by the pigs as robots.
62 "Out in Outer Space" October 28, 2002
Lionel and Leona's maternal grandfather comes to the library and tells a story about Ellen Ochoa, a friend who is the first Hispanic woman in space. Lionel and Leona make their biography about him.
63 "Help!" November 4, 2002
64 "Two Coats, One Goat and One Boat" November 11, 2002
A man makes things out of an old overcoat.
65 "Treats!" November 18, 2002
66 "Surf Germ" November 25, 2002

Season 4: 2003[edit]

# Title Original Airdate
66 "Art Party" September 15, 2003
67 "Grow, Mane, Grow!" September 16, 2003
Lionel tries to use a device to make his mane grow longer.
68 "Three Goats, No Waiting" September 17, 2003
Lionel directs a play about the Three Billy Goats Gruff, but he has trouble finding someone who's scary enough to play the part of the troll.
69 "Step by Step" September 18, 2003
70 "Dance in Smarty Pants" September 19, 2003

Seasons 5 & 6: 2005-2006[edit]

# Title Original Airdate
71 "Pigs, Pigs, Pigs! & The Three Little Pigs" April 18, 2005
72 "The Carrot Seed & The Empty Pot" April 25, 2005
A boy tries to prove he can grow a large carrot, but he does not succeed.
73 "Wings & What's In the Box?" May 2, 2005
A boy disobeys his father's warnings, then Leona has fun with an empty box.
74 "A Shower of Stars & Two Moons and One Lagoon" May 9, 2005
(1.) A lion cub sees stars for the first time. (2.) Then, Lionel and Leona make up a story about touching the moon.
75 "The Golden Meaty Awards" May 16, 2005, January 11, 2011 (re-release)
Lionel gives out awards for his favorite songs in the show.
76 "Click Clack, Moo & The Little Red Hen" May 23, 2005
(1.) A farmer's cows go on strike while typing, (2.) And then a hen tries to do things by herself without any help.
77 "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble & I Miss You, Stinky Face" May 30, 2005
(1.) A donkey makes a bad wish using a magic pebble. (2.) Then a boy imagines all the adventure his mother will have when coming home.
78 "A Tasty Piece of Cheese; The Lion and the Mouse" June 6, 2005
79 "Earl's Too Cool; When I Was Five" June 13, 2005
80 "It's Red! It's Green!; Joseph Had a Little Overcoat" June 21, 2005
(1.) Two men argue over a hat. (2.) Then a man make things out of his old overcoat until there's nothing left.
81 "Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash; Knuffle Bunny" April 17, 2006
A lady hangs up a lot of weird things on her wire. Then, a baby misplaces her favorite toy.
82 "Sheep on a Ship; Mississippi Skip and His Pirate Ship" April 24, 2006
83 "Yo! Yes? & Very Loud, Very Big, Very Metal" May 1, 2006
A boy tries to get a friend to play with him. Then, Lionel watches a music video about vehicles.
84 "I'll Fix Anthony & Jamaica Louise James" May 8, 2006
85 "Pete's a Pizza & Pygmalion" May 15, 2006
A boy is sad that he can't go out to play as it is raining, so his father decides to cheer him up by turning him into a pizza. Then, the lions read a Greek myth about a sculpture maker who learns that love makes statues come to life.
86 "Here Come the Aliens & Abiyoyo" May 22, 2006
Lionel and his friends believe that there are aliens in the library, but Lionel becomes disappointed when he realizes there aren't. Later, a boy and his father work together to defeat an evil giant.
87 "King Midas & The Dirty Smelly King" May 29, 2006
88 "King Midas & The Dirty Smelly King" June 5, 2006
A greedy king wishes that everything he touches turns to gold. He gets the wish, but soon wishes he hadn't. Later, a king rides on his assistant's back to prevent his feet from getting dirty.
89 "The Coyote and the Rabbit & The Gingerbread Man" June 12, 2006
A rabbit challenges a coyote to a race. Later, a gingerbread man gets chased by people and animals who want to eat him.
90 "The Goat in the Coat" June 19, 2006

Season 7: 2007[edit]

# Title Original Airdate
91 "The Problem With Chickens; An Egg Is Quiet" September 17, 2007
92 "Spicy Hot Colors; Yesterday I Had the Blues" September 24, 2007
Cleo reads a story about colors and what Mexican things are that color. Then, a boy tells how colors can describe his family and friends' feelings.
93 "Bear Snores On; Night in the Country" October 1, 2007
Some animals have a party and interrupt a bear's sleep. Then, Click reads a story about what happens in the countryside at nighttime.
94 "How to Be a Good Dog; Not Afraid of Dogs" October 8, 2007
A cat tries to get a dog to behave. Then, a boy who thinks he's fearless tries to get over his fear of dogs.
95 "Dear Mr. Blueberry; I Wanna Iguana" October 15, 2007
A girl writes letters to her teacher about whales. Then a boy tries to convince his mother to get him a pet iguana.
96 "Violet's Music; What Instrument Does Alvin Play?" October 22, 2007
97 "Moon Rope; Welcome to the Moon" October 29, 2007
98 "The Three-Legged Pot; When Jabo Jammed" November 5, 2007
A boy tries to get a heavy pot up a hill, and when Leona gets it out of the book, she tries to make it dance. Then, Fred tells a story about a boy who loves to make music.
99 "Charlie's Dinosaur; Here Come the Aliens" November 12, 2007
100 "Making Bread; Cheesybreadville" November 19, 2007
The lions watch a video about a man who goes to a bakery to learn how to make bread. Later, a disaster in the kitchen creates a brand new treat.

Season 8: 2008[edit]

# Title Original Airdate
101 "Ruby Sings the Blues; The Camel Dances" September 15, 2008
A loud girl learns how to sing. Then, a camel decides to perform ballet in front of other animals.
102 "Mole and the Baby Bird; Owen and Mzee" September 22, 2008
A mole learns that some animals shouldn't be pets. Later, Lionel reads a story about a hippopotamus and a turtle who become friends.
103 "Stop That Pickle; Chicks and Salsa" September 29, 2008
A pickle goes on the loose, so some foods come to life to chase after the pickle, but they're too slow to catch it. Later, some farm animals decide to make some Southwestern food after they grow tired of the same foods given to them.
104 "Are You a Snail?; Wonderful Worms" October 6, 2008
The Information Hen reads a story about what people would do if they were snails. Later, Lionel and Leona help a monkey find her missing pet worm.
105 "Stone Soup; Bee-Bim Bop!" October 13, 2008
Cliff Hanger reads a book about a village who helps a couple of aliens make a special soup. Then, a girl helps her mother make dinner.
106 "Bein' With You This Way; How to Be" October 20, 2008
Lionel, Leona, and their friends watch a music video about being different. Later, Lionel and Leona read a story about pretending to be different animals.
107 "No One Told the Aardvark; Sea Horse" October 27, 2008
108 "Elephants Can Paint, Too!; Jamaica Louise James" November 3, 2008
109 "Trosclair and the Alligator; The Coyote and the Rabbit" November 10, 2008
110 "I Don't Want a Birthday Party; Knuffle Bunny" November 17, 2008

Season 9: 2009[edit]

# Title Original Airdate
111 "Night Shift; Under Construction" September 21, 2009
112 "Bugs; Beetle Bop" September 28, 2009
113 "Cliff Hanger, the Pheasant, and the Phone; Terrific" October 5, 2009
114 "River Story; Salmon in Alaska" October 12, 2009
115 "Pigs in Hiding; Stop That Pickle!" October 19, 2009
116 "Priceless Gifts; King Midas" October 26, 2009
A merchant learns that making a friend is the best gift. Later, a greedy king wishes that everything he touches turns to gold. He gets the wish, but soon wishes he hadn't.
117 "The Popcorn Popper; Oh, Yes, It Can!" November 2, 2009
118 "The Emperor's New Clothes; The Hungry Coat" November 9, 2009
119 "Like a Windy Day; Winter Is the Warmest Season" November 16, 2009
120 "Angelina's Island; Chinese New Year" November 23, 2009

Season 10: 2010[edit]

# Title Original Airdate
121 "Three More Little Pigs/The Ants and the Grasshopper" September 20, 2010
Lionel, Leona, and the Wolf each try their hand at writing a sequel to The Three Little Pigs, and Leona finds a way to work and play.
122 "A Birthday for Cow!/Rabbit's Gift" September 27, 2010
The humble turnip stars in this show about birthday celebrations, vegetables, and the gift of giving.
123 "City Mouse and Country Mouse/The Happy Hocky Family Moves to the Country!" October 4, 2010
Click the Mouse trades places with a real mouse, and the country comes to the library.
124 "Pablo the Artist/Dream Carver" October 11, 2010
The Lion family is inspired to create works of art, and Gus is inspired when he and Lionel work on a page from the Cliff Hanger Coloring Book.
125 "Roller Coaster/What Do Wheels Do All Day?" October 18, 2010
Leona is finally ready-or is she?-to take the training wheels off her bike, and Squeaky the Wheel has the audience rolling with laughter in the library.
126 "Not Norman/Me and My Cat?" October 25, 2010
Theo feels as unappreciated as a goldfish named Norman, and a malfunctioning computer gets the Lion family all mixed up.
127 "My Dog Is as Smelly as Dirty Socks/Just What Mama Needs" November 1, 2010
The Lion family turns a box of junk into self-portraits, and Leona tricks Lionel into cleaning her room.
128 "Castles, Caves, and Honeycombs/My House" November 8, 2010
Leona helps a snail find a new home in the library's new All Different Kinds of Homes wing, and Lionel moves into a new home too.
129 "Deep in the Swamp; Trosclair and the Alligator" November 15, 2010
Lionel tries to frighten Leona with creepy, crawly swamp things, and a clever boy tricks a hungry alligator.
130 "Red Parka Mary; Not Afraid of Dogs" November 22, 2010
Leona and her friend Sadie are scarier than they think, and a boy learns that dogs aren't so scary after all.


See also[edit]


External links[edit]