I can remember collecting the Franklin book series as a child in the mid-nineties- the big jackpot was the infamous Scholastic Bookstore catalog- I'd always buy (or have my parents buy) a set of Franklin books. Seeing the turtle's popularity, I assume the offer for a cartoon soon came on the table, and boy was that show addicting. From the very first moments of the insanely catchy bluegrass theme song, my younger brother and I were hooked. Any show that opens up with a banjo is a keeper, and the lyrics were short and sweet:
Hey, it's Franklin!
Comin' over to play
Growin' a little,
Every day
Franklin cartoon episodes opened up just like the books, with a rhyme describing Franklin's abilities to count to two, and tie his shoe, and usually brought in the conflict for that episode. My favorite book and episode, Franklin's Blanket, dealt with the issue of being too old and too attached to a security blanket- a problem I struggled with until my late teen years. It was relieving as a child to see that I was not the only one who relied on an object for comfort, to the point where I would be anxious and unable to sleep if I didn't have my blanket. Like the books, the cartoon episodes always had a childhood conflict; jealousy of siblings, cheating on tests out of pressure, lying to parents, showing off, things like that were addressed with tact and were very relatable to children, small and large.
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