'Peg + Cat' Equals Fun at PBS Kids

'Peg + Cat' will debut on PBS Kids on Oct. 7.

As if I needed another reason to love PBS Kids!

The kid-friendly arm of PBS will be launching a new girl-friendly, math-friendly animated show in the fall, Peg + Cat (that's Peg plus Cat), and I caught a sneak peek of the adorable newbie at the network's annual meeting a couple of weeks ago in Miami.

Actually, I had the chance to check out lots of upcoming highlights from both PBS and PBS Kids -- including meeting Sesame Street's new character, Armando (Ismael Cruz Cordova) -- but more on that later.

Peg + Cat is a new show from creators Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson that really aims to make math fun -- and succeeds from what I can see. Peg is an adorable and clever girl who likes to solves problems with her pet Cat (named Cat, of course). A girl after my own heart, she also likes pie. Cat is her deadpan yet calming sidekick, who calms her down when she starts to freak out.

Of course, you know what I'm going to say. CC loves girl heroes, particularly ones that look an awful lot like her, like Peg. In fact, she's been happy to read the accompanying Peg + Cat book I got at the meeting.

The story, which also happens to be based on the show's first episode, has Peg planning a picnic with a pig. A Cat. And a chicken. She's given everyone a slice of pie based on their size (hers is the biggest because she is the biggest, and the little chick gets the smallest, natch). Yay math!

Not only that, but 100 chickens get loose, and she has to count and put them all back.

The book is silly fun -- not dry at all. In fact, as chickens are going crazy on the loose, CC kept laughing and pointing to the one that was shaking its bottom in the air. Of course she was. I also love the clever design touches like the infinity clouds and the graph paper background.

And while it's geared toward preschoolers, even kindergartners will enjoy the laughs.