Image by PBS KIDS via Flickr

This Monday, September 7th, check your local listings for a brand new episode of WordGirl, starring ten year old Becky Botsford, the schoolgirl with an awesome vocabulary and a secret superhero identity for defeating villains!

In “Becky and the Bard“, Becky (voice of Dannah Feinglass) and Violet (Maria Bamford from “American Dad”) compete for the coveted role of Juliet opposite Hunter Throbheart (voice of James Adomian, who is best known as a President G.W. Bush impersonator, performing on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and in the movie “Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay”.) Violet is cast as Juliet with Becky as her understudy, and when Violet is captured by the Energy Monster, it seems like Becky will get her big break at last. But will she choose the role of a lifetime, or choose to save her friend?  vocabulary words for this episode: shimmer, memorize

In “Monkey Vs. Robot”, the city is hosting the big Checker Championship, and Tobey (voice of Patton Oswalt) has the perfect champ- the giant Robot Checkmate 3000, who will face off against Becky’s monkey pal Bob. When Tobey pressures his robot to win, Checkmate goes on a rampage against anything shaped like a checkerboard, and WordGirl and Bob must team up to stop him. vocabulary words: champion, vanquish

Created by Dorothea Gillim and Jack Ferraiolo-who won an Emmy for his work as the series’ head writer-WordGirl seeks to not underestimate children’s intelligence by giving them a show that’s both smart and funny. PBS Kids sent me a screener of these two episodes to review, and now it’s a show I’ll look for to watch with my 10.5 year old!