The Evolution of Super Why!: Why Inspiring Kids to Read Matters More Than Ever

Twenty years ago, as I pursued my master’s degree in Child Development and Child Psychology at Teacher’s College/Columbia University, concerns about children's reading achievement were growing. Screens were pulling kids away from books and adding to a literacy crisis. 

I immersed myself in research and children’s media. What I discovered challenged the belief that screens and reading had to compete. I became convinced thoughtfully designed media could help children discover the joy and power of books. 

For me, learning to read felt like gaining a superpower. Suddenly, I could enter a whole new world. Words around me came into focus. Books became gateways to new ideas, adventures, characters, and possibilities. 

I'm Angela Santomero, creator of “Super Why!” “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” and other children's shows. Inspired by my love of reading and research, I was determined to create a series to make kids feel the same way I felt when I first learned to read. I wanted to showcase the adventures inside books, empower kids to learn to read using what the Science of Reading deems critical for reading success, and showcase that reading is a resource for life. The screens weren’t going to deter — they were going to enhance the adventures using animation, and quite literally have kids feel like reading is their own superpower.

That idea became Super Why!

Today that mission feels more urgent than ever. Parents, educators, researchers, and policymakers are concerned that too many children are struggling to read – and that screens are still taking away from reading. They need more practice with phonics, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and comprehension — and they also need to fall in love with reading. 

The literacy crisis is not just about children struggling to sound out words. It includes deciding that reading isn’t for them. When children lose curiosity about stories, ideas, and discovery, they lose one of the most powerful ways to learn. Reading isn't just a school skill. It's how children explore the world beyond what they already know.

The stakes are even higher. In a world overflowing with information, children need more than the ability to decode words on a page. They need to analyze ideas, make connections, understand different perspectives, evaluate information, and ask thoughtful questions. Long after children learn to sound out words, reading continues to teach them how to think.

Reading has always been known as the gateway to learning and now it is also known as a gateway to critical thinking. Research shows that children who read for pleasure for just fifteen minutes a day are exposed to roughly one million words each year. That's not just vocabulary growth — it's knowledge, imagination, empathy, and critical thinking building one page at a time. The future belongs to our kids who can understand information, question it, and ask, “Why?”

Independent studies found that children who watched Super Why! demonstrated significant gains in critical early literacy skills, including alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and other foundational reading skills. When combined with digital games the educational impact was even greater.

These findings confirmed what we had always believed: when children are engaged and empowered, meaningful learning can happen.

That's why, when “Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures” was created for today’s kids, the goal was about more than teaching literacy skills. We wanted reading to feel powerful. We wanted children to see reading as exciting — to showcase that reading can help solve problems, answer questions, and change outcomes.

As is in all my work, kids are always part of the story. In “Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures,” children become Super You, a member of the team in Reader Valley. As Super YOU, kids help solve problems by listening for sounds, searching for letters, reading words, and making decisions that move the story forward. In every episode, their literacy skills are crucial to saving the day.

Throughout my career, one thing has remained true: children learn best when they are sparked. How do we spark them? By helping them become active participants. By showing them that their voice matters. By inviting them to think, imagine, and help solve problems. Children learn more when they predict, answer, question, and participate instead of simply watching. 

“Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures” invites kids into the adventures, and along the way they are playing, laughing, imagining, helping, learning and building a love of reading.

Kids come to our series because they want to help a friend. They want to play with Alpha Pig, Wonder Red, Princess Presto, Power Paige and Super Why. They want to be Super You and help save the day from our silly villains. Kids become emotionally invested in the stories and characters, and that emotional connection is one of the reasons the learning sticks.

Years later, Super Why expanded into reading camps, bringing the series, the games, and hand-on activities to life over the summers for the kids who needed it the most. - That's where I experienced one of the most meaningful moments of my career.

A mother told me her son had struggled to connect with reading, but when he discovered Super Why she saw him label letters, decode words, and comprehend sentences. “He chooses books to read with me now.” She thanked me with tears in her eyes.

PBS KIDS wants every child to feel that spark and engagement with its shows and characters. The hope is that every child will believe they are a reader, every parent and caregiver will know that their child is smart and capable, and every child will have a voice.

Twenty years later, the mission remains the same: to help children grow to love reading and to experience that wonderful feeling that comes when they realize they have a superpower – the power to read.

That's the promise of “Super Why!'s Comic Book Adventures.”