CBS Storybreak

This anthology program, like its rival, the ABC Weekend Specials, encouraged young viewers to take up reading. And it was and still is among my Saturday morning or early afternoon cartoon favorites. I saw this more often than the other show, so it's the one most familiar and memorable to me, in spite of their similarities. There is an assortment of televised animated adaptations of the stories and the ones that have since stuck in my mind include C.L.U.T.Z., Chocolate Fever, and How To Eat Fried Worms. Its purpose and intention to get the youth to read had an impact or influence on me, as the book I wanted to read first and was most interested in reading was C.L.U.T.Z. But unfortunately, I didn't get far, because I tried to order and borrow a copy from my local library, and it seemed to be unavailable, therefore I wasn't successful in checking out that. Later, I found out there were releases of the episodes under the title Video Storybreak. I would have loved to buy or at least rent those, or I wish I had recorded them.

In a decade when there were not as many great T.V. cartoon series as there were great ones, this was/is among the better ones and to me a breath of fresh air from others that fell into the groups of those based on toys, video games, etc. What I love most about this is the variety there is from episode to episode. Each of these has one-off characters, which is nice on one hand. But on the other, I wish all of them were spun-off into series of there own, which would've been nice too, so that we could've seen recurring characters that way, at least. The Raggedy Ann and Andy episode seems to be an exception, as it was the only episode spun-off and that expanded into its own series. All the episodes were co-produced by America's Hanna-Barbera Productions and Australia's Southern Star Entertainment, and it's one of the former animation studio's best efforts in my opinion. Unlike the ABC Weekend Specials, all the teleplay adaptations are cartoons only, so some might wish there were live-action adaptations of the stories in this show as well. The intro features a hard-rocking theme song, which is well-done. For me, this series was and still is one of the '80s cartoons that I find most appealing.

What else can I say about this other than that it's another love of mine? Although I never read any of the stories featured, I'm sure they're just as thrilling as the revisions inspired by them. As much as I love the adaptations, they just provide tastes of what the books have to offer. It's simply another great cartoon that's more than just fascinating. It's enchanting and on the same level as the ABC Weekend Specials. Full of imagination, so much so it's got to be among the most imaginative shows ever made.

This is one of my favorite educational shows of all time and it's another childhood relic of mine. I remember seeing this when I was about six, I was always fascinated with book and this show helped peak my interest as it helped introduce me to some I've never heard about. Looking at it now for any book collector it also is a good way to find some hidden and forgotten gems out there.

The show is an anthology but here it's different because it's on the educational side as the episodes are animated adaptations of popular kids books at the time.

Animation depending on the story is solid and fits the story, but I also like the voice acting, which is good, there are a few familiar voices. Though probably the only bad thing about the show is how for anyone that has read the actual book would notice there are some parts missing. This couldn't be helped due to the episode being only a half hour long, if you ever wanted more of the book, you'd have to make a two hour film. Though I can't complain too much because by it's nature the episodes are really appetizers to hold you over for the main course which is reading the book itself, so if you want the actually full story of the book being shown then well go track down the book and read it.

Of course, the highlight is that theme some which to me is one of the best theme songs. It's such a rocking them just that guitar music and the animated graphical montage commercial break bumper. This show was always the last show on the CBS Saturday morning line up which made me a little sad knowing that fact since the time I could only see my animated programs once a weak but at the same time excited because this show came on. It's basically an animated anthology which is cool since I don't' see it much

The host is good, really like the set pieces he uses which looks like a modern park but it's of course a painted set piece. Which to me not just brings the right setting but it fits the nature of the show as the set pieces look like storybook art and the host is in a storybook.

There are some good books like "How to Eat Fried worms" which is a strange but fun story that is about self-empowerment and courage, and for the record worms are a good source of protein for the survivalist. "Chocolate Fever" which is a fable story on a kid that is addicted to Chocolate and receives unusual side effects.

Another is "Dragons Blood" which is a really cool concept, this is based on a fantasy trilogy that was popular for it's time, it's somewhat forgotten now, just seeing this I wouldn't mind if they every make either a live action movie or TV series based on this book series.

CBS Storybreak like any good book is worth looking into, also remember to keep reading you never know what stories you'll find.

Rating: 4 stars

I loved this series growing up. Absolute favorite episode was Dragon's Blood, the first of Jane Yolen's "Pit Dragon Trilogy" of books about the Austarian dragons and the dragon masters who train them for battle.

Every episode was a classic. This series was the reason I got out of bed on Saturday mornings! So many of the classic shows of my youth are becoming available on DVD, there's no reason this shouldn't be one of them.

Storybreak gave children their first taste of what reading books can be like. Some of these books (like the aforementioned Dragon's Blood) I didn't have available to me at the time, and in fact had never even heard of, but once I knew about them I had to read the full story (no matter how well done, a 30 minute cartoon can't give the entire experience of the book, but it CAN spark the interest to find the book and get the rest of the story for yourself)

But the fact of the matter is, these stories WERE well done! Whether it's a story of a boy who ate too much chocolate, or a kid who was transported to a parallel dimension where Dinosaurs evolved and mankind was extinct. Silly or serious, as long as it's entertaining...and it always WAS!

Every saturday morning I would sit and watch this show. Damn I miss the 80's. The show didn't just do kiddy stuff, they did some good animated works of sci-fi as well. I remember when they did an animated telling of a book similar to "Dragon Riders of Pern" where people from outerspace train dragons for riding and battle.

Keeshan's book loving cat character influenced kids to read.. no matter how "boring" it seemed.

-BlazeFoxKitsune =^.^=

I remember this show, but i do not remember a cat. I think the other viewer might have gotten this show mixed up with the ABC weekend special, it was hosted by capt. O.G. Readmore. A cartoon cat who in later episodes, became animatronic. the two shows were very similar. the both encouraged children to read, they we both based on books, and they both came on at the end of Saturday morning cartoons. ABC Weekend Special, was on a lot longer than Storybreak, though. I believe it was a spin off of the famous, or should i say, infamous, ABC after school specials. It started in the late 70's. The only difference was that it was more lighthearted.