New York — April 5, 2010 — In honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today announced that its Emmy® Award-winning WordGirl® will fight the forces of planetary pollution in a multi-platform push. Anchored by the ecothemed episode "Earth Day Girl" that will air on April 22nd on PBS KIDS GO! as well as feature its online premiere PBSKIDSGO.org/video, the wordsmith wonder girl will also celebrate the occasion in the new early reader book “Earth Day Girl” from Scholastic and show’s first DVD of the same name from Paramount Home Entertainment.

In the "Earth Day Girl" episode, when the Birthday Girl learns that the Earth is having a special celebration (on her birthday!) she decides to teach the Earth a lesson. Will WordGirl find a way to stop the Birthday Girl and save Earth Day? The words featured in the episode include "Recycle" and "Excess". The “WordGirl Earth Day Girl” DVD gives fans a glimpse of the title episode, in addition to seven new-to-DVD adventures each of which introduces four new vocabulary words and reinforces their meanings in a variety of contexts. Special features include interactive games, video shorts, and coloring pages.

"This Earth Day we decided to introduce another word into WordGirl's vocabulary – synergy. This represents a terrific effort by various WordGirl partners to introduce WordGirl content across three different tiers in support of such an exciting milestone for Earth Day,” says Leslye Schaefer, Senior Vice President of Scholastic Media.

Airing five days a week, WordGirl is in its second season on PBS KIDS GO! (check local listings) and has won numerous parenting and industry excellence awards since its debut, including a 2008 Emmy Award for “Best Writing in Animation,” a Television Critics Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Animation,” a Gracie Award for its portrayal of a strong female character, a KidScreen Award for Best Voice Talent, and an iParenting Media Award. It was nominated for a 2009 Emmy for Best Direction in an Animated Series.

Voice talent for these episodes includes Dannah Phirman (“MadTV”) as WordGirl, Chris Parnell (“30 Rock,” “Saturday Night Live”) as the Narrator, Pamela Adlon (“King of the Hill,” “Boston Legal”) as The Birthday Girl, Jon Benjamin (“Family Guy,” “Important Things with Dimitri Martin”) as the Jewelry Store Clerk Fred Stoller (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) as Chuck, and Ryan Raddatz (“How I Met Your Mother,” “Reno 911”) as Mr. Botsford.

For more information on WordGirl, please visit http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/wordgirl, www.PBSKIDSGO.org/wordgirl and PBS.org/pressroom.

Contact:

Brian Reinert / Ashley Gillen
BENDER/HELPER IMPACT
brian_reinert@bhimpact.com / ashley_gillen@bhimpact.com
212.689.6360