Elinor Wonders Why is an animated television series created by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson. The show premiered on September 7, 2020, on PBS Kids.
 The exploration-themed show encourages children to follow their curiosity, ask questions when they don't understand, and find answers using science inquiry skills. The main character, Elinor, is the most observant and curious bunny rabbit in Animal Town just north of Natural Forest, California. She introduces children ages 3–6 to science, nature, and communities through adventures with her friends Olive and Ari. Each episode includes two 11-minute animated stories, plus interstitial content, where Elinor and her classmates enjoy either Señor Tapir singing about famous nature explorers or Ms. Mole reading stories.
 "Hiding In Plain Sight": Elinor and her pals are playing Hide and Go-Seek, but they are always spotted by the Goat twins! They observe camouflaged animals, and figure out to stay hidden, they need to camouflage themselves.
 "Backyard Soup": Elinor is visiting her Baba and Bibi in Desert Town, and wants to make Backyard Soup! But, she can't find the ingredients! She figures out that certain plants grow in certain places.
 "The Amazing Expandable Clubhouse": Elinor, Ari, and Olive have new members for their club, but there's not enough room for everyone in the clubhouse! They look for help from their snail friends, Norma and Lulu. They figure out that they can expand the clubhouse.
 "The House That Ants Built": Elinor, Ari, and Olive want to make a cushion castle, but they all try to make different things and take from each other! They look at an anthill, and discover that the ants are working together. They figure out that they should work together.
 "The Tomato Drop": Animal Town is having its Tomato Festival, and Elinor, Ari, and Olive are participating in the Tomato Drop! But, they can't keep the tomato from smushing! They figure out that they can use something as a chute to keep the tomato from smushing.
 "These Sneezes": When trying to carry flowers in the park, Olive suddenly sneezes. They wonder why they sneeze. The figure out that they sneeze to keep irritating things out of your nose.
 "Butterfly Babies": While exploring the park, Ari and Olive explain to each other about caterpillars and butterflies. When a butterfly lands on little Miri's nose, it makes Elinor wonder: what do butterfly babies look like? They figure out that butterfly babies are actually: caterpillars!
 "Burrowing Owl Girl": Elinor is spending the day with her Bibi, and she fins an owl that doesn't act like a normal owl. She and Bibi notices that things look different, but they're still the same thing. She figures out that it was a burrowing owl she saw, and that she doesn't know everything about owls.
 "A Change of Art": Elinor, Olive, and Ari are at art class with Mr. Lion, but they're out of paint! They find that grass and berries can make paint-like items. They figure out that you can use things from nature to make art.
 Development of the show began in 2017, when Cham and Whiteson were approached by PBS. PBS found Cham's comic, Piled Higher and Deeper, online and asked if he was interested in pitching to them. "I reached out to Daniel, and what inspires us beyond science is our children," Cham recalled. "They are curious, and it motivated us to create the show." Cham cites Pogo and Calvin and Hobbes as inspiration for the show's visual design, which he described as "something that felt natural and calming, as opposed to overloaded or frenetic."
 The character of Elinor was inspired by Cham's own daughter, Elinor. Cham said "She was about 4, which is just at that perfect age where she really does wonder why, all the time. Any answer you give her, she’ll (have) a follow-up question, another why." Cham and Whiteson went with animals as the show's characters to make them "appealing but also relatable at the same time", and to "highlight their range of skills and abilities."
 A second season of the series is currently in development with funding from a National Science Foundation grant.
 The series premiered on PBS Kids in the United States on September 7, 2020, as a sneak peek by showing the first 2 episodes, before regularly airing new episodes on September 8. Some episodes are available on Amazon Prime Video in the United States.
 PBS International has licensed the series to Canada, Latin America, Finland, Israel, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates via Knowledge Network, Discovery Kids, Yle, Hop!, SVT and E-Junior, respectively. The series airs on Australia on the PBS Kids channel, which was started as a venture with Foxtel in July 2021.
 In early 2021, the series began to release its episodes on PBS Kids compilation DVDs.
 Starr Rhett Rocque of Fast Company wrote, "This clever series...encourages curiosity."
 Elinor Wonders Why: Hiding in Plain Sight, described as one of two launch titles for a graphic novel series based on the show, was announced in February 2022. Two titles, Hiding in Plain Sight and Forest Giants, released on September 6, 2022.