Leona & Lionel - Pair of sister and brother lions on the award-winning children's program BETWEEN THE LIONS/PBS/2000. Funded in part by a Ready To Learn grant from the US Department of Education through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the program's 70 episodes (produced by WGBH and Sirius Thinking, Ltd.) foster literacy skills and promotes the message "Get Wild About Reading." to kids four to seven years old.

The show follows the adventures of two lion cubs, Lionel (7) and Leona (4) as they read books to each other and  their parents, Cleo and Theo. Leona also hosts a segment called "Between the Covers" and literally enters books so she can report on what's happening inside.

Friends of the Lion family are Martha Reader and the Vowelles, a singing group who sing songs emphasizing vowels; Cliff Hanger, the star of an adventure series that spotlight words and sounds, Click the Mouse, half-cyborg rodent who runs the library where Lionel and Leona visit to check out books (Click can "drop and drag" characters into books); Heath the Thesaurus, an old dinosaur-like creature who lives in the library basement and runs the reference department; Barnaby B. Busterfiled III,  the bust of the nineteenth century founder of the library which rests on a niche in the library and comes to life from time to time to offer commentary; and Walter and Clay Pigeon, two birds who live in the ceiling dome of the library and often perch on Barnaby's head.  

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BETWEEN THE LIONS/PBS/2000

Peter Linz	as	Theodor "Theo" Lion
Jennifer Barnhardt	as	Cleopatra "Cleo" Lion
Anthony Asbury	as	Lionel Lion
Kathryn Mullen	as	Leona Lion
Heather Asch	as	Click the Mouse and Clay Pigeon
Tyler Bunch / James J. Kroupa	as	Walter Pigeon
Tim Lagasse	as	Barnaby "Buster" Busterfield III