Having seen one child through kindergarten already, I know why kindergarten is magical. There, kids take huge steps in learning through creativity and fun.

I know this, but it isn’t the case for the barn animals in the story A Place Called Kindergarten (G.P Putnam’s Sons, $15.99, http://jessicaharper.com/). They feel at a loss when their favorite boy, Tommy, hasn’t come to play with them one day in the early fall. The dog says he went to kindergarten, so they talk amongst themselves about its mystery (we get both human- and animal-speak versions). Then Tommy arrives at the barn door, proudly wearing a backpack and full of marvelous details about the great day he had. He even teaches the critters part of the alphabet as he feeds them.

As written by Jessica Harper, an accomplished author-singer-songwriter-actress, this story has an elegant, warm text that radiates the joy of school. Illustrated with gentle whimsy by G. Brian Karas, the book may even soothe those kids not sure they like the classroom, and the parents worried about them.

If this isn’t your first experience with Harper’s work, you may notice the story’s reference to a song on her recent award-winning CD, Hey, Picasso, which shows how well the author’s musicality filters into her writing. The book is an ode to kindergarten that will make bedtime reading a happy incentive for the next school day.

It’s a little too soon to come to real conclusions, but a new study (http://www.webmd.com/content/article/126/116402) performed by the Princeton University psychology department found that the brains of male marmoset monkey changed with the experience of fatherhood. Compared with non-fathers, the daddy marmosets had a greater density of connections in the region of the brain believed to be “involved in parental behavior and social bonding.”

It appears that the reason marmosets were chosen for this research is that they are unique in the mammalian world for their strong involvement in the upbrining of their offspring. Marmosets even carry their children for greater than 50 percent of the time during their babies’ first three months.

The fact that marmoset brains become more “parental” and bonding-oriented with their fatherhood experience seems to indicate something human daddies can learn from — we can get better at parenting the more we do it.

While the subject of the inappropriateness of some of children’s TV has reached another peak (see the end of the posting for more on this), there are wonderful, family-friendly programs for the fall. One is a fresh offering from the Playhouse Disney lineup on the Disney Channel, called Handy Manny.

The animated show is about a world-class repairman named Manny, voiced by That ‘70s Show star Wilmer Valderrama, who works with his collection of tools in the tight-knit community of Sheet Rock Hills. Set to premiere on Saturday, September 16 at 10am (EST), Handy Manny has a gentle nature, but strong community messages. The show features catchy music (including a theme performed by Los Lobos) and remarkably warm computer-generated animation. The talking tools, with their unique personalities, are particularly fun, as is a klutzy friend name Mr. Lopart, whose comb-over alone is worth the price of admission.

Rick Gitelson, an Emmy- and Humanitas-award winning writer/producer with credits that include Rugrats and Lazy Town, developed and produces the series. He explains that, “I was attracted to Handy Manny by its potential to teach children-problem solving skills in a fun and entertaining way.” Gitelson gushes about his good fortune regarding the finished product, “It was such a collaborative process, but one where all the elements meshed together just right. The animation is eye-popping, the characters and locations in Sheet Rock Hills are beautifully rendered, the scripts are smart, and funny and the voiceover performances are amazing. What more could you ask for?”

He’s also quick to point out that all the fun does include key messages. “Central to the show is teaching children about diversity,” he says. “We tackle the issue by showing a community made up of people of various races and ethnicities working together toward a common goal. We also include elements of Manny’s Latin culture and heritage and feature Spanish language throughout the show.”

On the issue of problem solving, Gitelson goes on to say that, “Whether the problem is personal (fear of the dark) or physical (trying to fit an oven through a door) we try to demonstrate creative problem-solving skills. It’s a lot of ground to cover, but we’ve tried to integrate it seamlessly.”

The father of two, Gitelson worked hard on the humor of the show. “Figuring out what preschoolers will think is funny is a tricky business. Heck, figuring out what adults will think is funny is tricky! One thing that never fails with kids is physical comedy. A character falling down always gets a laugh, so we certainly have our share of pratfalls. But you can only have Pat the Hammer fall off table so many times. So we try to write endearing, upbeat, and memorable characters with unique personalities. If you do that well the comedy will flow naturally.” Truly, humor and positive messages abound on the show, which is well worth viewing in this new TV season. See more about it online at http://disney.go.com/disneychannel/playhouse/handymanny/menu.html.

If you’re interested in delving into the debate over violence and inappropriate behavior on children’s television, read my article, “Taming TV,” at http://parenthood.com/articles.html?article_id=9792 or in regional publications such as Boston Parents’ Paper or L.A. Parent.