PBS KIDS announced that Rosie’s Rules, a colourful new 2D animated preschool comedy series from 9 Story Media Group and its award-winning studio, Brown Bag Films, will make its debut on 3 October 2022. Rosie’s Rules stars five-year-old Rosie Fuentes, a bilingual Mexican-American girl from suburban Texas who is just beginning to learn about how the great, big, fascinating world around her works. Featuring an engaging social studies curriculum, a dynamic cast of characters, catchy music, and hilarious stories, the new series aims to show kids ages three to six, how they, as individuals, fit into their own community, as well as broader society.
PBS KIDS SVP and GM Sara DeWitt said, “Like many young children, Rosie likes to figure things out for herself, and the mission of Rosie’s Rules is to nurture that curiosity and ‘learning-by-doing’ among viewers. Many families around the country will recognise themselves in Rosie’s amazing, culturally-diverse extended family and connect the rich Mexican, Southwestern and Midwestern traditions, food, art, language, and music featured in the series with the unique customs and culture of their own families.”
In Rosie’s quest to understand some of the world’s most mystifying concepts, like how the mail works or family relationships, she will bonk into, break, rip, and spill her way into constant comic chaos, usually doing it wrong before she gets it right. As Rosie figures things out, the answers – along with other astute discoveries – become Rosie’s Rules. These rules for navigating everyday life range from the silly, to the sweet to the practical. Rosie’s “rules” also reinforce what Rosie’s learned in the episode, bridging the curriculum takeaway and the heart of each story.
Rosie and her blended, multicultural family live in suburban Texas. Her Papá is from Mexico City, and her entrepreneurial Mom is from rural Wisconsin. Rosie has a little brother, Iggy, and an older sister, Crystal, who is Mom’s child from her first marriage. Gatita is Rosie’s fluffy feline sidekick.
Rosie’s Rules features a social studies curriculum specifically tailored for preschoolers, which encompasses civics and government, geography, economics, and history, presented via engaging, character-based narratives to help viewers achieve the social studies proficiencies that are important for preschoolers. Rosie’s home is filled with reminders that social studies is all around us. Maps on the walls, giant family calendars, family photos (in the pattern of a family tree), even an address on the door support the curriculum and help viewers connect social studies concepts to their daily lives. Music is part of every episode, as Rosie sings the “I’ve Gotta Know” song to begin each story and ends with a celebration tune summarizing what she’s learned.
9 Story Media Group CCO Angela C. Santomero said, “We care deeply about all children seeing themselves reflected on screen. It is our mission to bring kids content that inspires them to change the world, and we believe ROSIE’S RULES will do just that! The series’ unique social studies curriculum will help children learn about themselves, their families, and communities through enhancing their self-identify and expanding their experiences beyond the walls of their home.”
Rosie’s Rules was created by Emmy Award-winning writer and children’s book author, Jennifer Hamburg, a veteran of the children’s television industry whose credits include Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Super Why!, Pinkalicious & Peterrific, Cyberchase, and Doc McStuffins.
Executive Producing with Jennifer is TV veteran, Mariana Diaz-Wionczek, PhD (Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go!, Santiago of the Seas), who brings a wealth of children’s TV experience and cultural, educational, and linguistic expertise, along with her own life experience growing up in Mexico City. Maria Escobedo (Grey’s Anatomy, Elena of Avalor, Nina’s World) is story editor.