Every parent and grandparent wants the children they love to grow up feeling confident, accepted, and prepared to handle the challenges that come with friendships, school, and simply growing up. But conversations about bullying, exclusion, hurt feelings, peer pressure, or treating people who are different from us can sometimes be difficult to begin—especially with younger children.
That is one of the reasons Junga the Dancing Yeti® was created.
Junga is a lovable young Yeti who happens to look different, loves to dance, and sometimes finds himself facing situations that many children can relate to. Through his adventures with Grandma Yeti and friends such as Heidi, Wes and Groth, children encounter stories about friendship, acceptance, empathy, courage, bullying, forgiveness, teamwork, fair play, and doing what’s right. The lessons are important, but they are woven into colorful, imaginative adventures designed first and foremost to keep children entertained and engaged.
Stories Families Can Enjoy Together
At home, the Junga books can simply be fun stories to read together. Children can laugh at the characters, enjoy the adventures and colorful illustrations, and discover what happens next. But something else can happen along the way.
A story gives a child a comfortable way to talk about situations that might otherwise be difficult to discuss.
A parent or grandparent might ask, “How do you think Junga felt when that happened?” or “What would you have done?” A conversation that begins with a fictional character can naturally become a conversation about something happening in a child’s own life.
That is part of what makes storytelling such an important part of Junga. Children don’t have to feel as though they are sitting down for a lesson. They can enjoy the story while learning from it.
And Junga’s adventures aren’t meant to suggest that children will always make the perfect choice. Junga and his friends encounter misunderstandings, disagreements, mistakes and difficult situations. They learn, grow, forgive, make new friends and discover better ways to treat one another. Those experiences give families opportunities to talk about the same social and emotional skills children are developing in their own lives. The series has been recognized by educators and child-development professionals for using its characters and situations to encourage conversations about diversity, cooperation, relationships and bullying prevention.
From the Family Room to the Classroom
What began with children’s stories has grown into something much bigger.
The three Junga the Dancing Yeti® books and their animated films have become an integral part of the Confident Life Program™ (CLP), an award-winning social-emotional learning and bullying-prevention program for elementary-age children.
In the classroom, Junga becomes more than a character in a book. His experiences provide a starting point for teachers to help children explore topics such as confidence, empathy, friendship, inclusion, responsible decision-making, conflict resolution and bullying prevention.
CLP builds upon the stories through a multimodal approach to learning, incorporating books, animated films, classroom discussions, role-playing, student activities, reflection and family engagement. Rather than simply telling children to “be kind,” the program gives them opportunities to think about situations, discuss choices and practice the social-emotional skills they can use when similar situations happen in real life.
One Message, Wherever Children Meet Junga
Whether a child discovers Junga while curled up next to Grandma on the couch, reading with Mom or Dad before bedtime, watching one of the animated films, or participating in the Confident Life Program™ at school, the hope behind Junga remains the same:
Give children stories they love—and messages they can carry with them long after the story is over.
We want children to laugh with Junga, cheer for him, recognize themselves in his experiences and discover that being different can be something to celebrate. We want them to understand that friendships sometimes take work, mistakes can be repaired, courage comes in many forms, and even a small act of kindness can make a difference.
Most of all, we hope Junga encourages children to believe in a simple message that has guided his adventures from the beginning:
Be a Leader and Do What’s Right!
The Junga books and films can be enjoyed by families at home, while schools and youth organizations can take those lessons even further through the Confident Life Program™. Because when the messages children hear at home and the skills they practice at school reinforce one another, we have an even greater opportunity to help raise confident, compassionate children who know how to treat others—and themselves—with respect.
