Pitching PJ Masks Save the School!

By Kassandra Giroux

Why this book?

Anaya, Connor and Greg look like typical preschool students; they like playing outside and spending time with their friends. However, don’t let that fool you as these three friends actually have superpowers! When duty calls, they transform into Owlette, Catboy, and Gekko! In PJ Masks Save the school, the trio are called for help when a teacher realises that the school supplies are missing. Challenges arise throughout their journey, but they are always reminded of how important it is to work as a team.

What's gonna work? Teamwork!

Children love superheroes! However, many popular stories include violence and mature themes. According to research done on violence in popular superhero movies in 2015, “The average number of acts of violence associated with protagonist and antagonist characters for all included films was 22.7” (Muller, J. N., Moroco, A., Loloi, J., Portolese, A., Wakefield, B. H., King, T. S., & Olympia, R. ). This is a story about sharing and working together. Having heroes that are the same age as the reader is not only entertaining but also a great way to learn important lessons about sharing and friendship.

What is a hero, really?

A good book will make you think and ask yourself questions. That’s exactly what PJ Masks does. Questions that can be asked include: “What makes a hero?”, “Do you have to fight a crime to be one?”, “Do you have any hero in your life?”(Ashby, 2015). PJ Masks Save the School is a fun book but also initiates important conversations. At a young age, children especially look up to the people around them as role models, and those people can truly impact their lives. Reading PJ masks Save the School and questioning what makes someone a hero can help children recognize those important people in their lives. It also emphasises the good qualities those people have; that way, the children can recognize them and work on integrating them into their lives as well.

"PJ Masks - Producer Interview with Olivier Dumont." Youtube, uploaded by TamingGaming, 24 Sep. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch

Sources

Ashby, Emily. PJ Masks. Common scene Media, 2015, https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/pj-masks.

Muller, J. N., Moroco, A., Loloi, J., Portolese, A., Wakefield, B. H., King, T. S., & Olympia, R. (2020). Violence Depicted in Superhero-Based Films Stratified by Protagonist/Antagonist and Gender. Cureus, 12(2), e6843. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.6843.

TamingGaming. PJ Masks - Producer Interview with Olivier Dumont. Youtube, September 24th 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skCxAE6ItLU.