Anytime Playdate: Inside the Preschool Entertainment Boom, or, How Television Became My Baby's Best Friend (Hardcover)

by Dade Hayes (Author)
Key Phrases: little airplane, preschool entertainment, viewing revolution, Anytime Playdate, Sesame Street, Baby Einstein (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
After introducing his infant daughter to TV, Variety editor and author Hayes (Open Wide: How Hollywood Box Office Became a National Obsession) begins to wonder how the $21-billion preschool market—TV shows, DVDs, CDs and tie-in toys–works behind the scenes. He sets out to question the experts, including honchos at Nickelodeon and CTW, as well as entrepreneurs such as Julie Clark, whose brainchild was Baby Einstein. Hayes gives a nod to the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation of no screen time for children under two, but also notes that only 6% of parents are aware of it. He learns, too, that there has been no government research to study preschool media use. Raised on Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street in a pro-TV family (his father worked in the biz), Hayes doggedly follows the paths of such heavy hitters as Dora the Explorer and Blues Clues, dissecting their appeal and pondering the merits of TV for the very young even while continuing to let his daughter tune in. While one pundit notes, The content on television... can open windows and widen horizons for children who otherwise don't have those experiences, the effect is eerily chilling when Hayes's newborn son tilts his head toward the screen. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"This is a great tale of big business and tiny consumers. Now I know what goes into creating a half hour of distraction for my kids -- and it's fascinating and frankly a bit terrifying." -- A. J. Jacobs, author of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically

"In this snappily written account of television and new media's impact, Dade Hayes shows why our electronic babysitters have more sway than most teachers. Hayes takes readers inside the production factories that craft the programs and inside the economic forces that shape what our children see. Whether you're a parent of young children or a civilian, you want to read this thought-provoking book." -- Ken Auletta, author of Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost Their Way and Backstory: Inside the Business of News

"Anytime Playdate is an effervescent tour of America's new infant media empire. Dade Hayes weighs the pros and cons of being raised on video in a helpful, sprightly, and comprehensive fashion, combining a parent's concern with a skilled business reporter's acumen." -- Alissa Quart, author of Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers and Hothouse Kids: The Dilemma of the Gifted Child

"With both the objective eye of a first-class journalist and the subjective eye of a new father, Hayes takes you behind the scenes of an industry that each year creeps closer to creating programming for our children in utero." -- Allison Burnett, author of Christopher and The House Beautiful

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; 1 edition (May 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416546839
• ISBN-13: 978-1416546832
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #735,839 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting But Flawed Book On Infant TV Viewing, December 9, 2008

By	Mediaman "TVviewer" (USA) - See all my reviews

The idea of a media reporter looking into the business of creating TV shows for infants is fine--but this wishy-washy book draws few solid conclusions and the author uncovers his own lack of control over the tube.

The author was given access to some Nick Jr. show producers and the Baby Einstein creator. He observes them, interviews them, lets them speak for themselves and never really challenges them. Some of what he learns is interesting--such as the fact that producers of a show for kids under 2 say that children under 2 shouldn't be watching TV! Or that the creator of Baby Einstein did virtually no educational research before starting her supposedly educational product.

What comes through loud and clear is that TV shows and DVDs for kids ages zero to two are BIG BUSINESS and people who create these shows are merely making a product. After they create their idea they later worry about scrambling to find an educational basis for the show. And in many cases they have to stretch the truth in order to come up with any type of research that producers can use to claim the show is educational.

So that aspect of the book is good to read--but the author never takes the next step to report on the various studies that reveal the dangers involved in allowing small children to watch TV. He also misses a huge part of the market by narrowly focusing on only a couple of shows and totally skips Disney and most public TV programming for kids. His historical overview of kids TV is also very incomplete.

It's like the Wikipedia version of the subject, not properly researched nor completely objective.

The worst part is the author interjecting his own family stories--throughout the book he talks about allowing his newborn girl to watch TV, where she quickly gets addicted to whatever show he presents to her, she screams to be allowed to keep watching and he gives in. The sad end of the book is not a self-admission by the author that he should be a better parent and say "no" to the kid, but instead is the author allowing his second child to watch as a newborn.

Obviously the writer learned nothing from writing this because he chose his subjects narrowly and he believed what they told him instead of finding people who conduct valid studies to show the damages TV can do. Yes, he does talk to one doctor who used to work in the film industry, one who tells parents to take control of the TV. But that message doesn't stick with the author, who ends up using the book to do away with his own guilt for allowing his newborn children to watch TV.