ARTHUR CELEBRATES AUTISM AWARENESS, MILITARY CHILDREN, AND LAUNCH OF NEW GAME #arthur #PBS

This April, PBS KIDS series ARTHUR honors National Autism Awareness Month and Month of the Military Child on air and online, in addition to debuting new family history feature

March 22, 2016 (Boston, MA)--Produced by WGBH, the Emmy Award-winning PBS KIDS series ARTHUR explores childhood challenges with heart and humor while promoting friendship, family, and pro-social skills. This spring, viewers will join Arthur and friends as they celebrate Autism Awareness Month and Month of the Military Child on-air and online. A new family history game also launched recently on ARTHUR's popular website.

It all begins the week of April 4th on PBS KIDS (check local listings). Viewers will celebrate National Autism Awareness Month with new and fan favorite episodes featuring Carl, Arthur's friend with autism. In one of the new stories, George enlists Carl's musical talents for his upcoming puppet show. However, Carl's routines are getting in the way of their rehearsals. Should George keep working with Carl and risk the show? Or replace Carl and risk his friendship? In addition to the broadcast, fans can enjoy select episodes and clips on pbskids.org and on the PBS KIDS Video App, which is available on a variety of mobile devices and on platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Xbox One, and Chromecast, throughout the month of April.

Also in April, ARTHUR honors military-connected children with online episodes and a social media campaign featuring Ladonna, a character whose dad is in the Army Corps of Engineers. Full episodes and clips of Ladonna will be available on pbskids.org and the PBS KIDS Video App, centered around the 2016 Month of the Military Child theme: "Grit. Determination. Perseverance. Military Kids: Tomorrow's Trailblazers."

In addition to learning about military families, kids can explore their own family heritage through the recently launched ARTHUR Family History Fun interactive game. "Family History Fun" provides kids with a simple and fun way to interview relatives about their own childhoods and memories of growing up. These one-page interviews-printed or saved to a mobile device's photo gallery-are a creative and meaningful keepsake for families.

For its efforts in helping to teach children empathy and understanding, ARTHUR was recently honored with the 2015 Humanitas Prize for Children's Animation. "With its warmth, humor and social-emotional curriculum, ARTHUR helps kids develop critical skills-from compassion to perseverance," said Carol Greenwald, Senior Executive Producer of ARTHUR. "We hope Arthur and his friends can inspire kids of all backgrounds, as well as teach them how to better support one another."

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