PBS KIDS Unveils New ‘Super Why’ Series, Dates ‘Phoebe & Jay’ for February Premiere

Today, PBS KIDS announced Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures, a new animated series that builds on the shorts series of the same name, and the legacy of Emmy-nominated series Super Why! The new series supports early literacy for preschoolers and kindergarteners through seven-minute action-packed stories that follow the adventures of the beloved Super Readers in the epic comic-book world of Reader Valley.

Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures is produced by 9 Story Media Group and animated by the award-winning studio, Brown Bag Films. The series is slated to premiere on PBS KIDS in 2026.

“Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures supports literacy and reading skills through fun and fresh stories that will immediately draw kids into the vibrant world and characters that our viewers have come to know and love,” said Sara DeWitt, Senior Vice President and General Manager, PBS KIDS. “We’re delighted to bring this multiplatform series to ‘super readers’ across the country next year.”

PBS KIDS points out that recent research has found a significant drop in U.S. children’s reading scores and has shown that a large percentage of children are reading below grade level. Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures features an early literacy curriculum that focuses on mastery to provide kids with the skills, knowledge and empowerment they need to become successful readers. Building on the popularity of the shorts, which have garnered more than 159 million streams on PBS KIDS video platforms and over 7.4 million YouTube views since October 20233, the new multiplatform series will include 39 half-hour episodes and a suite of games and digital storybooks that help build viewers’ reading skills, such as letter-sound knowledge, phonological awareness, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension and more. The longer format allows for the introduction of new evidence-based curriculum concepts and allows for the incorporation of reading strategies and approaches in each episode.

“I’m proud to see Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures coming to the PBS KIDS audience, building on the legacy of the original series in a bold, fresh way,” said Angela C. Santomero, co-creator & executive producer. “We want to get kids reading and diving into stories and a comic book does just that! With super villains and adventure stories, Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures will ignite the love of reading as we also teach the important skills new readers need today.”

Coral Schoug, VP of Production for Brown Bag Films, noted, “We regularly hear that Super Why! has been hugely helpful in teaching kids foundational reading skills and remains a valuable resource for parents, caregivers, and teachers. We’re thrilled to introduce this latest Super Why! series and help further support children’s early literacy development in ways that are fun and effective.” Since its premiere in 2007, Super Why! has been one of the most popular PBS KIDS series, generating nearly 165 million streams per year across PBS KIDS platforms and 35 million views per year on the PBS KIDS YouTube channel.

Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures follows the adventures of Power Paige, the newest Super Reader, along with familiar friends Super Why, Wonder Red, Princess Presto and Alpha Pig — who is back and ready to build! Each reading hero uses their own unique literacy powers and gadgets to protect Reader Valley from a group of silly Super Villains, including The Eraser, who loves to make things disappear; Mr. More, who likes to add “more” to everything; The Shuffler, who wreaks havoc by mixing up the order of letters and sounds in words; and Outta Space, an extraterrestrial visitor who flies around looking to remove space between letters and sounds in words.

Every story features a catchy song that reinforces the series’ foundational reading skills curriculum and includes interactive moments that bring the young viewer, “Super YOU,” into the story to help save the day. There will also be four new games and three digital storybooks debuting after the series premiere, available on pbskids.org and the PBS KIDS Games app.

The new multiplatform series is co-created by Angela C. Santomero (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Blue’s Clues), Sarah Wallendjack (Super Why!, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) and Alex Breen (Super Why!, Charlie’s Colorforms City), and developed by Jill Cozza-Turner (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Get Rolling with Otis), directed by Sean Calligan (The Magic School Bus Rides Again, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum). 9 Story holds worldwide distribution and consumer products rights.

In other PBS KIDS news, the pubcaster today announced the premiere date for Phoebe & Jay, another new literacy-focused animated series for children ages 3-5, from Phoebe & Jay Productions and Mainframe Studios (Super Kitties!, CoComelon, Octonauts) and created by Genie Deez and Thy Than. Following the adventures of six-year-old fraternal twins as they introduce preschoolers to everyday texts such as labels, signs and posters to foster early literacy skills (and navigate the world around them), the show will premiere on February 2, 2026.

“Every year, 40% of children enter kindergarten with literacy skills one to three years behind their grade level, creating a difficult gap for them to overcome,” said DeWitt. “We hope that Phoebe & Jay’s relatable characters, fun, family-centered stories, and foundational curriculum will help equip young viewers nationwide with the everyday literacy skills they need to find success in school and in life.”

The show’s curriculum is designed to closely support preschoolers as they learn how to create and use the many types of functional texts that they encounter each day. As the twins uncover adventures in their new home, they use a flyer to help a neighbor find a lost pet and read clothing labels to find the right size shirt. Phoebe and Jay Yarber showcase for young viewers how they, too, can utilize these skills to explore their surroundings, pursue their interests, and accomplish tasks big and small in their own lives.

The titular twins live with their dad, Pete, an eternal optimist, with the support of their loving, no-nonsense Grandma Annie. The series captures some of the experiences and learning opportunities found in the fantastical Tobsy Towers, the unique setting for many of the close-knit Yarber family’s adventures, which was inspired by the grand old hotels in Los Angeles that have been repurposed into affordable apartments. In one story, after Phoebe and Jay accidentally get paint on the mail, they need to decode the addresses so each of their Tobsy Towers neighbors receive the correct packages. And in another, the twins discover reel-to-reel recordings left behind by Tobsy, the architect of Tobsy Towers, and create labels to sort the recordings.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to create a show that features so many different neighbors and thinkers who laugh together, help each other, and go on fun adventures. We hope viewers recognize themselves in one of our characters and that the show inspires them to notice all the signs, symbols and texts that surround us in our daily lives,” said co-creator Than. “We’re very excited for families to watch and play with Phoebe and Jay together.”

Co-creator Deez added, “Growing up, my brother and I were fortunate to have a strong role model in our Grandma Annie who helped raise us, and who also showed us how to think in terms of respect and resilience. Similarly, our show models executive function skills like impulse control, which encourages children to stop and think when frustrated solving a problem, and flexible thinking when switching between tasks. These strategies are crucial to teaching pre-literacy.”

In addition to new episodes, Phoebe and Jay’s Dance Party game will debut on pbskids.org and the PBS KIDS Games app in tandem with the series launch. Players will help the twins get ready for themed dance parties by finding inspiration at the Pass-It-On table, making posters, sorting party outfits by size, dressing up and learning special dance moves. Additional games will continue to roll out and will be available in both English and Spanish. Resources for parents and teachers will be available on PBS KIDS for Parents and PBS LearningMedia.

Phoebe & Jay is created and executive produced by Genie Deez and Thy Than and is produced by Phoebe & Jay Productions and Mainframe Studios. Tanya Green is supervising producer. Than is supervising director. Mike Alcock and Mark Sinclair are series co-directors. Aydrea Walden is head writer. Executive producers for Mainframe are Michael Hefferon and Kim Dent Wilder. Additional executive producers are Wendy Moss Klein and Nancy Steingard.

Advisors for the series include Lead Curriculum Advisor, Kelly Cartwright, PhD, Spangler Distinguished Professor of Early Child Literacy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Geraldine Oades-Sese, Ph.D, licensed psychologist, children’s book author, and former Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; Wendy Sapp, Ph.D., Chief Research Officer for Bridge Multimedia, Accessibility/Education Consultant; Tim Ojetunde, MEd, educator from South LA, Culture Specialist; and Cathy Tran, PhD, Writer’s Room Curriculum Consultant.

Funding was provided by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Ready To Learn Initiative and a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.