This season there’s lots to celebrate on PBS KIDS! A festive new Nochebuena and Three Kings Day special from Alma’s Way, the vibrant animated series from Fred Rogers Productions created by Sonia Manzano (Maria on Sesame Street), premieres 13 December on PBS KIDS. And fan-favourite holiday classics – from Peanuts, Arthur, Wild Kratts, and Curious George to The Cat in the Hat, Peg + Cat, Nature Cat, and Let’s Go Luna – are coming up all December long.
The brand-new Alma’s Way special will help viewers everywhere celebrate two very important holidays for many Latino families – Nochebuena and Three Kings Day. Based on Manzano’s own childhood, the new series features Alma Rivera, a proud, confident’s six-year-old Puerto Rican girl who lives with her family and a diverse group of friends and community members in the Bronx. In Alma’s Nochebuena, when Alma’s family’s Nochebuena traditions don’t go as originally planned, she must learn to celebrate in a whole new way. Then, in Three Kings Day Do-Over, after Alma notices Junior hasn’t played with her Christmas present, she skips playtime to make a do-over Three Kings Day gift.
PBS KIDS Holiday classic specials lineup 2021
Returning seasonal specials airing between 1 December and 26 December on PBS stations and the PBS KIDS 24/7 channel include:
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Feeling down about the commercialism of Christmas, Charlie Brown becomes the director of the gang’s holiday play. Can he overcome his friends’ preference for dancing over acting, find the “perfect” tree, and discover the true meaning of Christmas? The classic Peanuts special returns to PBS and PBS KIDS for a special broadcast presentation. A Charlie Brown Christmas will feed on Sunday,19 December, at 7:30 pm ET/PT on the NPS and at 7:30/6:30 CT on the PBS KIDS 24/7 channel during the Family Night block.
Nature Cat: A Nature Carol
Tally ho-ho-ho! Viewers can join Nature Cat and his pals for an extra-special, hour-long Christmas movie! In this homage to a Christmas Carol, Nature Cat is bursting with what he thinks is Christmas spirit, and wants to celebrate with lots of presents for himself, and by decorating the woods with bright lights and loud festive music for everyone. Fa-la-la, that doesn’t sound like Nature Cat? Daisy, Hal and Squeeks are upset because Nature Cat’s desire to celebrate Christmas in a great big way is causing problems with their friendship as well as bothering all of the animals in the woods. It’s not until Nature Cat is visited by three Christmas Spirits that he finally sees the true meaning of Christmas.
Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas
Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat are having a wonderful time getting ready for Christmas. There’s only one dilemma – neither of them can figure out what to give the other for a present! In the end, both gift-giving predicaments are simply and beautifully resolved, revealing the true spirit of the holiday season.
The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About Christmas!
This adventure finds the Cat in the Hat, Nick and Sally on a journey around the world to help a lost reindeer find his way home to Freezeyourknees Snowland in time for Christmas. On the way, the Thinga-ma-jigger breaks down, and they depend on a variety of animals – from African bush elephants to bottlenose dolphins to red crabs – and their remarkable abilities to help them make an amazing journey home.
Let’s Go Luna: Luna’s Christmas Around The World
When the Circo gets stranded in Antarctica on Christmas Eve, Carmen enlists Luna and the kids to play Santa and save Christmas for an unbelievably cute stowaway duckling named Lil’ Teeny.
Peg + Cat + Holidays
The Hanukkah Problem – When Albert Einstein invites Peg and Cat over for Hanukkah, he shows them how to make a 2D piece of paper into a 3D dreidel. Later, they need to use this process to bring peace to Al’s home and save his Hanukkah.
The Christmas Problem – When Santa Claus is in trouble, Peg and Cat have to solve their biggest problem ever: how to make and wrap presents for all the children of the world and deliver them using 100 sleighs.
The Penguin Problem – Peg and Cat coach a team of skiing penguins, who would have a shot at the Olympic gold medal if only they knew over, under and in between.
Wild Kratts: A Creature Christmas
In this one-hour special, it’s Christmastime and the Wild Kratts are taking a break from creature adventuring to celebrate. But when the Wild Kratts receive an alert that their favourite creatures are suddenly disappearing around the globe, their holiday party quickly turns into a rescue mission. The Wild Kratts must race against time to thwart their greedy archrivals’ most miserly scheme yet! Will they be able to travel to the ends of the earth and return their baby animal friends to their homes in time for the holidays?
Arthur’s Perfect Christmas
Plans are underway in Elwood City for the best holidays ever as Arthur, D.W., their family and friends make preparations for perfect gifts, perfect parties and perfect family traditions for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and even Baxter Day (Buster and his mom’s special celebration). The only problem is, just like in real life, perfection is hard to attain and things start to fall apart.