Review: Abdullah Kids Show

It's been a while since I've watched (I mean really engage and watch) a kids puppet show (well, except for the occasional mocking of RNC  Chairman Michael Steele as a muppet on the Daily Show), but as a father of three young children, I'm always on the lookout for good, educational Islamic programs (so I can sleep later in the morning).

So there I was, watching the Abdullah Kids Show, a program centered on the adventures of a bearded pre-tween (I couldn't figure out his age) puppet in high def, and the first plus point immediately hit – the “No Musical Instruments” banner popped up, so I wouldn't have to worry about intermittently hitting the mute button on my laptop (yeah, I'm obsessive like that).

I want to say what followed was, “…a metaphor for the battle for the identity of Western Islam, whereby a violent, impressionable young man bearing the characteristics of a Taliban soldier is re-educated to learn basic Qur'aanic literacy, care for the poor, and be kind to all creatures, thus allowing the message of moderate Islam to shine through and change this barbaric throwback's heart.”  My fellow students and my professors in the Liberal Arts department would have been proud.  Maybe even a few political organizations.

In truth, it's not really that – what it is, is a good kids program with a number of solid areas every Muslim child needs to pick up on, with two parts khuluq and one part academic.  There are some cute songs mixed in, and live footage of Muslims helping and donating to the poorer neighborhoods (I believe in New Jersey).

The next step for me was to see how my kids reacted to it, and I gotta say, they loved it.  They laughed throughout the program and it was clear that they enjoyed watching it, as they do the 1Islam Productions Zaky cartoons.

I do, however, have a few suggestions for the program since this was a pilot episode:

1.  Blues Clues this Thing

From what I've read (at least, from Malcolm Gladwell), out of all the programs for kids out there, Blues Clues teaching method has been the best.  If this program had the interactivity of Blues Clues with the Islamic lessons and without the endless music (that Blues Clues has), it would be seriously awesome.

2.  DVD Release Please

Hopefully these programs will come out on DVD rather than just the web.  Speaking as a parent, I don't want the kids in front of my laptop – I want their sticky fingers away from my keyboard and mouse.  The web is an awesome place to waste time for 10 – 40 year olds, not so much the little ones (ok, for none of us, but really, I just want my laptop to myself =)

3.  Higher Level Numbers and Concepts

Discussing the 100 parts of Allah's Mercy is cool, but 99 may be too high a number for many kids (unless the program's targeted age range is higher).

Overall, I give it two thumbs up (one thumb from me, two half thumbs from my kids), and I hope this pilot translates into a full-length, hour-long DVD release.