Voice of ‘Wishbone’ Brings ‘Beowulf’ Tale to Life

We all wish literature and history were taught better. For little folks, these school subjects can be a daily chore and a bore. For bigger folks, bad teaching has left many with regrets and embarrassment because they never learned enough about these subjects.

This Sunday at Barnes & Noble in Encino, folks can find out what a dog--with the unlikely name of Wishbone--has done to improve these problems.

A dog can’t exactly do this sort of thing alone, but can get pretty productive with the help of a creative band of TV people and paperback publishers.

Larry Brantley, a member of the “Wishbone” team and the “voice” of Wishbone in the TV series, will appear at the store to perform an interactive skit for children and family members based on the latest paperback book in the “Adventures of Wishbone” series.

This story is based on one of the oldest works of English literature, “Beowulf,” set in the Dark Ages. As with all Wishbone-told tales, it deftly combines literature and history with a story about present-day kids and their adventures.

Families who have discovered the “Wishbone” shows on public TV have already seen the terrier that plays the title role sporting costumes to characterize Cyrano, Romeo, Oliver Twist and, last month, Ichabod Crane, and heard him “talking” both as narrator and on-screen character.

For adults who are beginning to worry that this manner of introducing kids to the classics will somehow lead them astray, it seems to be leading them to the library. A report from the TV show’s producers includes feedback from teachers that, despite their best efforts to get kids to read classics, it was the viewing of “Wishbone” shows that finally got kids to read such materials.

The list of titles dramatized by Wishbone is impressive: “The Odyssey,” “Don Quixote,” “Virgil’s Aeneid,” “Frankenstein,” “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Other authors covered are Jane Austen, Longfellow, O. Henry, Dickens and Shakespeare.

All these have been filmed using the Wishbone character and are repeated often on public TV. They’re also available on video. Specially adapted book versions, containing the main points of the classic story and weaving them in with present-day story elements, are also available.

Brantley, interviewed by phone from his home in Texas, said, “We’re trying to give kids an introduction to these stories.” As he explained it, this involves having modern kid-characters--on screen and in the related paperback books--experiencing “Walter Mitty-like” fantasies based on the main themes of classic literature.

Recently, Brantley said, he was an observer when U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley visited the Dallas studio where the TV show is filmed and “congratulated Wishbone on his efforts to connect American children with books.”

Brantley, in a more down-to-earth assessment of the show said, “It helps kids remember the plot lines.”

BE THERE

Larry Brantley, the voice of TV’s canine character Wishbone, appears in an interactive skit based on the classic story “Beowulf,” Sunday at 3 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 16461 Ventura Blvd., Encino. Free, call (818) 380-1636.

A Classic Onstage: “Dickens’ Great Expectations,” previews, 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Students and seniors, $12; adults, $16. Ends Dec. 21. Call (818) 546-1924 for schedule and ticket prices.