Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum

**Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum** is a Canadian-American-Irish children's animated television series produced by **9 Story Media Group** and **Brown Bag Films.** The series first premiered on **PBS Kids** on November 11, 2019. It is based upon a series of books written by **Brad Meltzer** and **Chris Eliopoulos**, titled **"Ordinary People Change The World"**.

## Premise

The series involves a young Peruvian-American boy named **Xavier Riddle**, his sister; **Yadina Riddle** and their best friend; **Brad Scott Meltzer**. In each episode, they encounter a problem or difficulty. They then go to the **Secret Museum** to time travel to the past and observe, interact and learn from many historical people, depicted as children.

## Characters

**Main**

* **Xavier Riddle -** The leader of the group with his sister **Yadina** and their best friend **Brad**. He is an excitable kid who is eager to go back in time and meet various historical figures. He is described as a kid who loves everything (especially art and basketball), but lives for adventures.
* **Yadina Riddle -** Xavier's younger sister. She seems to be eager to explore the secret museum and learn about various historical figures. She carries a stuffed turtle around with her named **Dr. Zoom**. She is quite talented, whether it be with books or with balls. Although Yadina is very extroverted (not a wallflower at all), she is only six years old. This means that she can be very honest with just about anyone, and sometimes even blunt. For example, Yadina dislikes meanness of any kind, and if anyone is not being friendly to another, Yadina will let them know exactly what she thinks of their behavior. When faced with conflict, Yadina is an expert at making others understand a situation from someone else's perspective, which ultimately requires empathy, self-awareness, and self-regulation. She also has a habit of making bad puns, which she fruitlessly tries to explain to both her brother **Xavier** and her friend **Brad**.
* **Brad Scott Meltzer -** Xavier and Yadina's best friend who tends to be the most nervous and neurotic of his friends and suffers from several allergies. He is sometimes hesitant to go on adventures since travelling back in time makes him dizzy. Brad is quite partial to butterflies, as well as action heroes and is a relatively good artist who enjoys drawing comic book stories. He is described as having "**delusions of averageness**", and is apprehensive over everything. His friends, Xavier and Yadina, encourage him to live a little and to try new things. He suffers from imposter syndrome. Brad is **Jewish**, as revealed in the episode "**I Am Tomioka Tessai***"*, when he shows his friends a dreidel. His last name is only revealed on the website. He is an avatar of the author of the book series **Brad Meltzer**, whom he also resembles.

**Supporting**

* **Berby -** A small, egg-shaped flying robot who resides at the **Secret Museum** and functions as part of the time machine by transporting **Xavier**, **Yadina**, **Dr. Zoom**, and **Brad** back and forth in time. Berby communicates by making robotic beeping sounds, and is good friends with the kids and Dr. Zoom. She also functions as the museum's curator, ensuring all of the exhibits are taken care of and in the right places. Berby also appears in all the shorts after all of the episodes, either winning another "race around the world" against Xavier, playing hide & seek with Dr. Zoom & Yadina, co-starring with Brad in one of his "**Bradman**" comics, or going on random travels with Dr. Zoom. It is revealed in the movie "**I Am Madam President**" that Berby is a female robot.

## Production

**Brad Meltzer** wrote the book **Ordinary People Change the World** and began to develop a series based on the book named the **Ordinary People** series in 2014 with **I Am Abraham Lincoln**, **I Am Amelia Earhart**, **I Am Rosa Parks**, and **I Am Albert Einstein**.

The series is produced by **9 Story Media Group's** animation division, **Brown Bag Films**. 9 Story's **Chief Creative Officer** **Angela Santomero** states that **Xavier Riddle** lets kids know they have "**the curiosity and adventurous spirit to change the world**". Meltzer added to that statement: "**When my own kids watch this series, I get to see them realize that there’s extraordinary within the ordinary**."

## Episodes

**Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum** - **9 Story Media Group** & **Brown Bag Films**

Each episode of **Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum** runs for half an hour. They consist of two 11-minute stories based on famous historical heroes around the world in the past. However, airings on streaming services such as **Globoplay** in Brazil split the episodes into segments, with each 11-minute story isolated. There may be an interstitial segment between the two main stories, in which **Berby**, and either **Xavier**, **Yadina**, **Brad**, or **Dr. Zoom**, are shown doing a fun thing together.

**Season 1 (2019 - 2022)**

1. **I Am Johann Sebastian Bach** / **I Am Marie Curie**
2. **I Am Mary Shelly** / **I Am Harry Houdini**
3. **I Am George Washington** / **I Am Susan B. Anthony**
4. **I Am Issac Newton** / **I Am Golda Meir**
5. **I Am Winston Churchill** / **I Am Cleopatra**
6. **I Am Catherine The Great** / **I Am Tomoika Tessai**
7. **We Are The Wright Brothers** / **We Are The Bronte Sisters**
8. **I Am Mark Twain** / **I Am Abigail Adams**
9. **I Am Julia Child** / **I Am Neil Armstrong**
10. **I Am Helen Keller** / **I Am Alexander Graham Bell**
11. **I Am Florence Nightingale** / **I Am George Washington Carver**
12. **I Am Leonardo Da Vinci** / **I Am Amelia Earhart**
13. **I Am Zora Neale Hurston** / **I Am Charles Dickens**
14. **I Am Jackie Robinson** / **I Am Anna Pavlova**
15. **I Am Mary Leakey** / **I Am Alexander Hamilton**
16. **I Am Theodore Roosevelt** / **I Am Eleanor Roosevelt**
17. **I Am Lou Gehrig** / **I Am Marie Owens**
18. **I Am Nikola Tesla** / **I Am Nellie Bly**
19. **I Am Maya Angelou** / **I Am Fredrick Douglass**
20. **I Am Louis Pasteur** / **I Am Rachel Carson**
21. **I Am Kate Warne** / **I Am Sir Arthur Conan Doyle**
22. **I Am Cesar Chavez** / **I Am Dolores Huerta**
23. **I Am Confucius** / **I Am Sacagawea**
24. **I Am Mary Anning** / **I Am Charlie Chaplin**
25. **I Am Billie Jean King** / **I Am Arthur Ashe**
26. **I Am Rosa Parks** / **I Am Thurgood Marshall**
27. **I Am Harriet Tubman**
28. **I Am Wilma Rudolph** / **I Am Jonas Salk**
29. **I Am Jesse Owens** / **I Am Ella Fitzgerald**
30. **I Am James Naismith** / **I Am Temple Grandin**
31. **I Am Albert Einstein** / **I Am Carol Burnett**
32. **I Am Abraham Lincoln** / **I Am Jane Jacobs**
33. **I Am Sir Edmund Hillary** / **I Am Celia Cruz**
34. **I Am Jigonsaseh** / **I Am Sacagawea**
35. **I Am Ibn Battuta** / **I Am Beulah Louise Henry**
36. **I Am Rukimini Devi** / **I Am Bob Ross**
37. **I Am Fred Rogers**

**Shorts (2022)**

These shorts were released exclusively on the **PBS Kids** video app.

1. **Puzzled: The Value Of Perseverance**
2. **Happy Birthday**
3. **Fair And Square**
4. **Stand Up**
5. **Shell Shocked**
6. **The Duet**
7. **Dreidel**
8. **Play Ball**

## Film

A television special titled **Xavier Riddle and the Secret Movie: I Am Madam President** aired on March 16, 2020. In the special, Yadina, who dreams of becoming president one day, realizes all the presidents were men. She questions if she can still be president, even though it is something no girl has done yet. The trio visit the **Secret Museum**, where a five-part star is shown to them. They travel to different periods in time, where they meet women who are attempting to achieve something that has never been done before. Yadina learns from them on what is needed to do something that has never been done before, as she attempts to complete the star. She meets **Jackie Joyner-Kersee**, **Amelia Earhart**, **Junko Tabei**, **Sally Ride** and **Yadina Riddle** as an adult. **Amelia Earhart** is the only historical figure to be featured in this movie and an episode.

## Home Media

A single DVD set titled "**Meet Xavier!**" was released in 2020. It is the only DVD set of the entire series. It contains 12 episodes.

1. **I Am Johann Sebastian Bach**
2. **I Am Marie Curie**
3. **I Am Mary Shelly**
4. **I Am Harry Houdini**
5. **I Am Helen Keller**
6. **I Am Alexander Graham Bell**
7. **I Am Florence Nightingale**
8. **I Am George Washington Carver**
9. **I Am Leonardo Da Vinci**
10. **I Am Amelia Earhart**
11. **I Am Zora Neale Hurston**
12. **I Am Charles Dickens**

## Books

Book releases of **Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum...**

* **I Am Harry Houdini**
* **I Am Abigail Adams**
* **I Am George Washington Carver**
* **I Am Theodore Roosevelt**
* **I Am Susan B. Anthony**
* **I Am Nikola Tesla**
* **I Am Harriet Tubman**
* **I Am Confucius**
* **We Are The Bronte Sisters**
* **I Am Alexander Hamilton**
* **I Am Mary Anning**
* **I Am Cleopatra**
* **I Am Mary Shelly**
* **I Am Eleanor Roosevelt**
* **Learning Workbook**
* **A Night At The Secret Museum**

Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: I Am Harry Houdini: Story Book (April 2020)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: I Am Abigail Adams: Story Book (February 2021)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: I Am George Washington Carver: Story Book (October 2020)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: I Am Theodore Roosevelt: Story Book (June 2020)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: I Am Susan. B Anthony: Story Book (April 2020)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: I Am Nikola Tesla: Story Book (July 2021)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: I Am Harriet Tubman: Story Book (July 2021)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: I Am Confucius: Story Book (February 2021)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: We Are The Bronte Sisters: Story Book (June 2020)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: I Am Alexander Hamilton: Penguin Young Readers: Story Book (June 2020)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: I Am Mary Anning: Penguin Young Readers: Story Book (February 2021)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: I Am Cleopatra: Penguin Young Readers: Story Book (April 2020)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: I Am Mary Shelly: Penguin Young Readers: Story Book (August 2021)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: I Am Eleanor Roosevelt: Penguin Young Readers: Story Book (October 2020)Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: Learning WorkbookXavier Riddle And The Secret Museum: A Night At The Secret Museum: A Sticker & Activity Book (October 2020)

## Broadcast

The series premiered on **PBS Kids** in **United States** on November 11, 2019. It premiered on **TVOKids** in Canada on December 10, 2019. It also airs on **Super3**, a Catalan-language children's channel network in Spain.

## Games

Game releases of **Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum...**

* **Hidden Heroes**
* **Hero Maker**
* **Story Creator**
* **Museum Maker**

## Reception

**Joyce Slaton** of **Common Sense Media** gave **Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum** a mixed review. She stated that "**the show makes many historical inaccuracies, which makes it odd for a TV show that wants to make history come back alive for kids.**" She also stated that "**the show's tendency to play too fast and loose with the historical facts is confusing, and that 'Go for it!' is an unlikely motto for Amelia Earhart, who disappeared in 1937 and didn't complete her solo Atlantic flight as a grade school student, as Xavier depicts**." **George Washington Carver did have a secret garden as a child, in which he learned important lessons that impacted his career in botany"**. But, as Slaton states, "**it's a real stretch to imagine him having to defend plants from renegade soccer players in 19th century Missouri**," and that "**the show seems to overlook his importance as an activist for ex-slaves and champion of sustainable agriculture**, instead boiling his messages down to **'take care of plants and you'll take care of the earth**.

## Gallery

Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum - TV PosterXavier Riddle And The Secret Museum - Logo