Children's television is a slightly curious field. Of all entertainments, it is probably the most ambivalent in nature. Children usually love it, both the good and the bad, while parents and producers have never been totally convinced of its value. Does it teach? Does it corrupt? Is it harmless, beneficial? The soul-searching goes on and on. Here Ruth Inglis offers up the results of her own search, from the soothing tones of Howdy Doody in the 1950s to the surreal landscapes of Teletubbyland. She discusses how commercial success has vied with the need to educate, how programs such as Blue Peter tried to instill feelings of compassion as well as entertain and how series such as The Magic Roundabout set about cultivating fantasy in children's minds. It was, however, after Romper Room and Mister Rogers that the ground-breaking Sesame Street, through careful research into the learning processes of the very young, really set the standard for teaching while remaining entertaining. The book also explores developments in animation techniques, from the string-operated puppets of Howdy Doody and Woodentops to The Muppets, from Yogi Bear and the Hanna-Barbera cartoons and Lost in Space to the Ninja Mutant Turtles, The Simpsons, and South Park, to Barney and the plasticine figures of Wallace and Gromit. Specializing in educational psychology and child development, journalist Ruth Inglis is a regular contributor to many newspapers and magazines and has written on educational topics for television.