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Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum is a PBS Kids animated series based on the children's book series Ordinary People Change the World by New York Times best-selling author Brad Meltzer and illustrator Christopher Eliopoulos. It premiered on November 11, 2019.

The series follows the adventures of Xavier Riddle, his sister Yadina and their friend Brad. In every episode, one of them has a problem and turn to the Secret Museum, a hidden room underneath the ordinary museum owned by Xavier and Yadina's parents, to help solve it. The Secret Museum takes them back in time to meet iconic historical figures when they were children, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Helen Keller, Rosa Parks, Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, and Harriet Tubman. The positive qualities of all of these people help the trio solve their problem.

Produced at Brown Bag Films' Toronto studio, executive producers on the series are Vince Commisso, Brad Meltzer, Christopher Eliopoulos, Fonda Snyder and Rob Weisbach. The series is directed by Cory Bobiak (Peg + Cat), with Meghan Read (Dot., Dino Dan) in the role of executive story editor. The look of the show is based on Christopher Eliopoulos’ illustrations featured in the Ordinary People Change the World series.

On July 8, 2022, eight online one-minute shorts were released talking about virtues such as compassion, gratitude, and more. Watch them here (US residents only).

The series was quietly renewed for a second season, which premiered in January 2024.

This show provides examples of:

• Aerith and Bob: Downplayed. Xavier and Brad are normal names; Yadina, not so much.
• Added Alliterative Appeal:
  • Brad: "But, there could be bugs. Or bats. Or blueberries!"
  • Yadina: "If people aren't more careful, there can be a turtle tricycle tragedy!"
  • The Terrific Tightrope Twins
  • Brad’s Big Book of Butterflies
• Ageless Birthday Episode: In the episode "I Am Zelia Nuttall", it's Xavier's birthday, but it's never stated how old he's turning. Viewers can only assume he turned 8 as the show's X/Twitter account stated that he was 7 years old.
• Ahem: Yadina does this in “I Am Bob Ross” after Brad and Xavier get sidetracked talking about Bob’s hair.
• Air Quotes: Xavier does this while talking to Yadina in "I Am Cleopatra":
  Xavier: But it didn’t work when Dr. Zoom wanted "more pie".
• All for Nothing: In "I Am Johann Sebastian Bach", the kids travel miles by foot to see a concert that Bach really wanted to go to, but only see a snippet of it before Bach runs off to work on his song. Yadina points out how dumb this idea was.
• Ambiguously Brown: Xavier and Yadina have brown skin, but their ethnicity is unknown, though one episode, I Am Tomioka Tessai, implies they have mixed ancestry. However, "I Am Alvin Ailey" and the second "I Am Jackie Robinson" allude to their Latino ancestry as plot points.
• Ambiguously Sentient Object: It's implied at times that Dr. Zoom is secretly alive, given how she is briefly seen getting wide eyes in "I Am Mary Shelley."
• And Knowing Is Half the Battle: At the end of each episode, the trio addresses the viewers at home and repeats the moral of the story.
• Another Story for Another Time: Great Great Grandma Riddle says this after Yadina questions whether she and Great Great Grandpa Riddle built the secret museum.
• And Your Reward is Edible: Ceila Cruz was given cake for the contest in her respective episode.
• "Anger Is Healthy" Aesop: In "I Am Bruce Lee", after Xavier and Brad get angry with each other after Brad accidentally destroys Xavier’s racetrack and Xavier breaks Brad’s crayon out of spite, the gang meet Bruce Lee who teaches the boys that when you have big feelings, you’re in charge of what your body does, and has them try out kung fu to get both boys to relax and make up for their brief fall out.
• Animal Lover: Yadina loves animals, especially turtles.
• Animal Motifs: Brad's is butterflies, and Yadina's is turtles.
• Animated Adaptation: Of the Ordinary People Change the World books.
• Arc Number: The numbers 27 and 42 appear frequently throughout the show and the books. Brad Meltzer has stated that 42 is for Jackie Robinson's uniform number, but has explicitly refused to state what the 27 stands for.
• Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?: Yadina says “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” to Brad in “I Am Dorothy Levitt”.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Brad does this while explaining why the woods are dangerous. Bugs and bats are reasonable danger, but blueberries not so much.
  Brad: Through the woods!? But, there could be bugs. Or bats. Or blueberries! Those can really stain.
• Artistic License – Education: "I Am Helen Keller" as well as its sister episode, "I Am Alexander Graham Bell" portray clear speech as much easier to learn/achieve for profoundly deaf people than it typically is in real life, and the latter episode also features a deaf student reacting with an answer to Yadina talking to them almost before they've even turned their head to try reading her lips. To some extent this can be forgiven due to the simplification of plots for the episodes; Helen Keller's episode, for instance, omits some aspects of its book version, like Keller's use of home signs (signs deaf children make up to communicate with their families before they are exposed to established sign languages) prior to Anne Sullivan's arrival, likely to keep the pacing steady.
• Artistic License – History:
  • Although the show does its best to be historically accurate, there are some parts that were clearly made up, like Florence Nightingale having a pet mouse ^note She did, in fact, have a pet owl , Harry Houdini idolizing a tightrope walker named Fearless Jean, etc.
  • Because the story segments don't have enough time for it, the show does not get into the issue of pseudonyms and married names vs. birth names. Therefore, the child Mark Twain is shown as going by the name "Mark Twain" even though he was still using his given name "Samuel Clemens" at that age; and Abigail Adams is addressed as "Abigail Adams" even though she was "Abigail Smith" until she got married.
  • Alexander Graham Bell is portrayed alongside the lesson of listening to everyone, with the implication that different forms of communication are equal. While the moral is fine, it doesn't really mesh with a lot of Bell's beliefs, which heavily valued oralism (speech) over manualism (sign language). ^note Needless to say, it doesn't get into his related beliefs regarding eugenics and deaf people (where oralism was one means to try to prevent deaf people marrying each other), either, due to the show's tendency to focus on more ostensibly positive aspects that uphold the message.
• Athletically Challenged: Brad is noticeably slower than Xavier and Yadina, and gets tired very easily.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Xavier many times, most notably being when helping Louis Pasteur with his experiment.
• Audience Surrogate: Yadina acts as this as she is usually the one wanting words or topics to be defined or explained.
• Author Avatar: Brad is based on Brad Meltzer.
• Ballet: "I Am Anna Pavlova" is all about ballet, and in the opening sequence, the kids don tutus and ballet slippers and try to be graceful when dancing.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Downplayed with Yadina. She is the youngest out of the trio, but the most competent.
• Ballet Episode:
  • "I Am Anna Pavlova", which is all about a ballet dancer.
  • Downplayed with "I Am Alvin Ailey", as no ballet was involved, but Alvin was seen dancing in a ballet-like style when he hears a song some choir kids were singing to and started dancing to the music ^note  it also helps that Alvin Ailey was in fact a ballet dancer in real life and the trio were also seen dancing in a ballet style in the stinger.
• Balloon Belly: Brad after eating the birthday cake in "I Am Zelia Nuttall".
• Baseball Episode: "I Am Jackie Robinson", "I Am Lou Gehrig", and "I Am Roberto Clemente" are all about baseball players.
• Bearded Baby: Despite the historical heroes being kids when the trio meets them, some of them have beards like Charles Dickens and Leonardo da Vinci, or moustaches like Albert Einstein and Mark Twain. This is presumably done to make them more recognizable to the audience in the show's art style.
• Been There, Shaped History: Xavier, Yadina, and Brad are all present at famous moments of history, such as Amelia Earhart flying across the Atlantic.
• Bespectacled Cutie: Brad wears glasses and is endearingly nervous.
• Best Out of Infinity: During the interstitials, Xavier often attempts to beat Berby in a round-the-world portal race. Despite his use of various vehicles and gimmicks (e.g. a chariot, Leonardo da Vinci's wingsuit), he's apparently lost about a hundred such races before, yet is still 100% convinced that this time will be different.
• Be Yourself: This is the moral of "I Am Ella Fitzgerald". Brad is nervous to go to a dance party because he's self-conscious about his dance moves. Ella Fitzgerald and her unique way of singing show Brad that he should be himself.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Confucius has the largest eyebrows of the historical figures the trio meets.
• Big Damn Movie: "I Am Madam President" and "I Am Full Of Possibilities". The latter especially due to its very grown-up personal/mental topics highly relatable to teenagers.
• Big "NO!": Yadina does this, along with a Big "WHY?!", when she finds out theres no more grape jelly for her sandwich in “I Am Neil Armstrong”.
• Bizarre Taste in Food: In "I Am Neil Armstrong", Xavier is seen making different sandwiches with weird food combinations. Yadina also likes cheese and grape jelly sandwiches, which both Xavier and Brad are disgusted by.
• Black Bead Eyes: All the characters' eyes are small black ovals.
• Blue Is Heroic: Some of the heroes the trio meets wear blue. Those include:
  • Johann Sebastian Bach, who wears a blue shirt, jacket and shorts.
  • George Washington Carver, who wears a blue suit.
  • Amelia Earhart, who wears a light blue sweater and dark blue skirt.
  • Isaac Newton, Alexander Hamilton and Marie Owens, all of who wears a blue jacket.
  • Tomioka Tessai, and Confucius, both of who wears a blue robe and hat.
  • George Washington, who wears a blue hat, jacket and shorts.
  • Susan B. Anthony, who wears a blue dress.
  • Abigail Adams, who wears a light blue dress and shoes. Her relic also happens to be blue ribbons that she wears in her hair.
  • Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig, both of who wears a blue baseball uniform.
  • Mary Leaky, who wears a pale blue shirt.
  • Sally Ride, who wears a blue NASA jumpsuit.
  • Maya Angelou, who wears a blue button-up shirt, skirt and shoes.
  • Cesar Chavez and Bob Ross, both of who wears a light blue button-up shirt and pants.
  • Billie Jean King, who wears blue wrist sweat bands and tennis shoes.
  • Temple Grandin, who wears a blue button-up shirt.
  • Edmund Hillary, who wears a blue hoodie and pants.
  • Michelangelo, who wears a blue robe.
  • Eugenie Clark, who wears a blue wetsuit.
  • Benjamin Banneker, who wears a blue jacket and pants.
  • James Braidwood, who wears a dark blue firefighter uniform.
  • Alvin Ailey, who wears a dark blue sweater.
  • Kristi Yamaguchi, who wears a blue figure skating dress.
  • Katherine Johnson, who wears a light blue shirt and skirt and blue shoes.
  • Sonia Manzano, who wears a blue v-neck shirt and shoes.
• Boarding School of Horrors: In "I Am Norval Morrisseau," Norval Morrisseau tells the story of when he was sent away to a residential school that tried to take his indigenous culture away.
• Bookends: The episodes begin and end in the same place.
• Bowdlerise: In real life, Sacagawea got pregnant at 16, and the I Am Sacagawea book shows her carrying the baby during her expedition with Lewis and Clark. However, the "I Am Sacagawea" episode omits this entirely due to Teen Pregnancy being an extremely taboo topic, especially for a show for elementary schoolers. Plus, the Super-Deformed art style would make said pregnancy look...awkward.
• Boyish Short Hair: Marie Owens, Amelia Earhart, Mary Anning, Wilma Rudolph, Ella Fitzgerald, Harriet Tubman, Carol Burnett, Gwen Ifill and Babe Didrikson Zaharias have very short hair, and aren't all that feminine.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: In "We Are the Wright Brothers", Brad says Xavier's Catchphrase — "To the Secret Museum!"
• Breaking the Fourth Wall:
  • In the opening and closing sequences, the characters talk to the viewer. Luckily, there's no Fake Interactivity.
  • Also, after Sonia Manzano finishes telling her story, she says that she thinks it's good enough to be on TV, then winks facing the audience.
• Brother–Sister Team: Xavier and Yadina are siblings who travel through time together.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S": The X on Xavier's hoodie stands for Xavier.
• But Not Too Gay: So far, the show has three LGBT heroes - Sally Ride, Billie Jean King and Alvin Ailey. However, their respective appearances don't talk about their sexuality. It could be because it's not relevant to the plot, or because of the risk of being banned by Moral Guardians in Alabama like Arthur. There was going to be a Harvey Milk episode (likely in season 1) according to storyboards on someone's blog, but it was cancelled.
• Butt-Monkey: Brad. He always gets dizzy while time traveling, and doesn't want to go back in time yet is always dragged along. Not to mention that in "I Am Susan B. Anthony", Xavier and Yadina wouldn't let him have a say on what should go where in the Secret Museum, and in "I Am Alexander Graham Bell", he loses his voice and Xavier and Yadina do all the talking for him instead of listening to him.
• The Cameo:
  • Helen Keller made one in "I Am Alexander Graham Bell", as she is a student in his class.
  • George Washington made one in "I Am Alexander Hamilton."
  • Abraham Lincoln made cameos in "I Am Frederick Douglass" and "I Am Kate Warne".
  • Neil Armstrong made one in "I Am Katherine Johnson".
• Capture the Flag: In "I Am Winston Churchill", the gang travels back in time to meet a young Winston Churchill, who is playing capture the flag with his new schoolmates. It's through this game that Winston teaches Brad the importance of speaking up for yourself.
• Changed My Jumper: When the kids time travel, they never change their clothes, and the historical figures from the past never comment on it. The only exceptions were in the Winston Churchill episode, where one of the schoolboys said that Xavier was wearing a "strange hooded shirt"; the Catherine the Great episode, where Catherine complimented on Xavier's antennae and the Zelia Nuttall episode, where Zelia commented on Brad's cape.
• Character Name and the Noun Phrase: The show's title, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum.
• Cheer Them Up with Laughter:
  • After Xavier sprains his wrist, he cancels his comedy show, which he is disappointed by. The trio go to the Secret Museum to cheer Xavier up. He is noticeably less cheery this episode. After a day of laughter with Mark Twain, Xavier feels better and decides to continue his comedy show.
  • This is the lesson in the episode "I Am Charlie Chaplin". Yadina is sad because Dr. Zoom fell into a jar of jelly and she can't play with her until Yadina's dad cleans Dr. Zoom up. The trio go to the Secret Museum to cheer Yadina up, and they meet Charlie Chaplin. Yadina feels better after Charlie performs some funny acts on stage. When the trio return, Yadina attempts to cheer up Dr. Zoom, and she apparently feels better after the trio also perform some silly acts.
• Chromatic Arrangement: Xavier (Red hoodie), Brad (Green unbuttoned cardigan), Yadina (Blue shirt).
• Clark Kenting: Harriet Tubman disguises herself with glasses and a head covering to rescue her parents.
• Companion Cube: Yadina has a stuffed turtle named Dr. Zoom, who she loves very much. Berby also plays with Dr. Zoom like they're buddies.
• Continuity Cavalcade: The Season 1 finale, "I Am Fred Rogers", features clips from the episodes in the past season as the kids sing "It's You I Like".
• Cowardly Lion: Despite being scared, Harriet Tubman saves her parents from slavery, because real courage is bravely moving forward even when you're scared.
• Crash-Into Hello: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster meet this way, as portrayed in the show.
• Creator's Culture Carryover: The TV movie has Yadina heartbroken to learn there's never been a female U.S. president, despite the show being produced in Canada, France, and Ireland. All three countries, for better or worse, have had at least one female leader each. Justified in that Yadina specifically wants to be the President of the United States of America, which is why the lack of a female U.S. president upsets her.
• Crush Blush: In "I Am George Washington", Yadina keeps blushing around Kid!George Washington. Along with the fact that she constantly gushes about how great he is, this hints that she may have a crush on him.
• The Cutie: Xavier, Yadina, and Brad are all little kids with likable personalities, adorable designs, signature quirks, and great ambitions.
• A Day in the Limelight: "I Am Madam President" is driven by Yadina's ambition to become the first female President of the United States. Interestingly, this is also the show's first Extra-Long Episode.
• The Dentist Episode: Downplayed. "I Am Sonia Manzano" is about Yadina learning to be less anxious about going to the dentist, and then she mentions in the end how great her visit was, but her going to the dentist is never shown.
• Determinator: In "I Am Marie Curie", Marie doesn't let sexist rules stop her from following her dream, as she goes to a secret girls' university and starts her own lab to learn more about science.
• Didn't Think This Through: In the "Race Around the World" segments with Xavier and Berby, Xavier always chooses snazzy-looking modes of transportation without first considering that those modes of transportation might not be practical for a race (like the Wright Flyer) or that they might not work at all (like the Da Vinci Ornithopter).
• Diegetic Soundtrack Usage:
  • Xavier briefly hums the show's theme tune at one point in "I Am Madam President".
  • Xavier's ring tone for his phone is the show's theme tune.
• Different in Every Episode: In every episode, the gang accesses the Secret Museum in a specific way. There are six variants:
  • Through a portrait.
  • Through a tornado.
  • Through an Egyptian wall.
  • Through a grandfather clock.
  • Through a dinosaur exhibit.
  • Through a Chinese throne.
• Disney Death: In "I Am Madam President", Berby eventually runs out of gas, and when the gang goes to meet Sally Ride, she dies and drifts off into space. Luckily she comes back to life when Yadina saves her.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The opening theme is sung by Xavier, Yadina and Brad as they explain how they travel through time and meet real heroes that change the world.
• Dreadful Musician: Xavier at first in "I Am Johann Sebastian Bach", as he plays "Hot Cross Buns" on the recorder off-key. This happens again in "I Am Grandmaster Flash", where Yadina even covers her ears when she hears Xavier's playing.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Helen Keller, who is blind, was depicted having no light in her eyes, to show that she was blind. In “I Am Louis Braille”, Louis Braille and Katie (Brad’s friend) are depicted having light in their eyes, despite both of them being blind.
• Edutainment Show: This show teaches about history and social-emotional concepts.
• Episode Tagline: Each episode's tagline is the mantra taught by the historical figure encountered in the episode. For example, the Cleopatra episode's tagline is "Ask for things the right way".
• Every Episode Ending: Every episode ends with the kids back in the white void (like in the episode's cold open), and they thank the viewer for joining their awesome adventure to meet the episode's historical hero. They all say their names, and pledge to exhibit the virtues of the hero.
• Expressive Hair: Yadina's pigtails sink lower when she feels sad.
• Expy: Brad can be this to Sean Rafferty from Ready Jet Go!.
• Extra-Long Episode:
  • "I Am Madam President" is 58 minutes long.
  • While most episodes are 11-minutes, "I Am Harriet Tubman", "I Am Fred Rogers", and "I Am Ruth Bader Ginsburg" are all 22-minutes. Rule of thumb: if an episode is 22-minutes, it will be a major turning point for the series.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Downplayed. In "I Am Jim Thorpe", if you look closely, Jim wears mismatched socks (a black one on his right foot, a white one on the left).
• The Faceless: Taken up to eleven with Xavier and Yadina’s parents. The show makes it a point to never let us see their faces or hear their voices.
• Feud Episode:
  • There are a few episodes where all three kids get into a fight.
    • In "I Am Jigonsaseh", Xavier, Yadina, and Brad fight and briefly break off their friendship over a disagreement on what they should do with boxes. Jigonsaseh helps them.
    • The three kids also argue in "I Am Thurgood Marshall" over the last slice of pie, and when they meet Kid!Thurgood Marshall and his pets, they argue on which of his pets should get the big carrot. Marshall helps them by telling them they should divide the pieces to make them equal.
    • They also argue in "I Am Edwin Binney" for a little over what coloured flowers Edwin should pick. However, it's not a common occurrence in that episode.
  • Xavier and Yadina have a sibling fall-out in both "I Am Maya Angelou" and "I Am Confucius".
  • Xavier and Brad have a friend fall-out in "I Am Bruce Lee".
  • Yadina and Brad argue over who to donate the money from the Nature Troop Fund in "I Am Kofi Annan".
• Field Trip to the Past: The show's entire premise runs on our trio time traveling to learn lessons from historical figures.
• Free-Range Children: The trio go to the pool and park without parental supervision, and seem to be unmonitored in the museum.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • Many famous things can be seen in the Secret Museum cubbies. Homer's donut, a Jason Voorhees mask, Ron's broken wand, Journal 3, Barbasol shaving cream, a PKE meter, Ariel's dinglehopper, Dorothy's ruby slippers, and a bust of Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog.
  • Towards the end of "I Am Madam President", Sally Ride's statue has a very tiny LGBT flag on the back of it.
• Full-Name Ultimatum: In "I Am Jackie Robinson", Jackie's mom says his full name, Jack Roosevelt Robinson.
• Four-Fingered Hands: The characters only have four fingers on their hands.
• Girlish Pigtails: Yadina is a young girl who wears her hair like this.
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Yadina has a stuffed turtle named Dr. Zoom, who she loves very much.
• Gravity Is a Harsh Seamstress: In "We Are William and Caroline Herschel", the trio goes to Germany in 1772. Upon arriving, they land in a wagon, causing it to roll into a clothesline full of bedsheets. Berby then stops the wagon, sending the trio flying with the bedsheet still covering them.
• Green Aesop:
  • "Take care of the Earth" in "I Am George Washington Carver".
  • "Nature needs space to live and grow" in "I Am Theodore Roosevelt".
  • "We can all help to protect the Earth" in "I Am Rachel Carson".
  • "When we take care of the Earth, we take care of ourselves too" in "I Am David Suzuki".
• Guys are Slobs:
  • In "I Am David Suzuki", Xavier unintentionally trashes the trio's clubhouse. He even has a designated "garbage hole" that is basically a hole in the ground to throw away trash. The room apparently reeks according to Brad and Yadina.
  • Yadina also likes to mention how messy Xavier's room is throughout the series, but we never really see the messiness.
• Hairstyle Inertia: Xavier and Brad have the same hairstyle as kids and adults. Yadina is the only one with a hairstyle change, going from pigtails to letting her hair loose.
• Hates Being Alone: Xavier can not stand the thought of being alone. This is highlighted in "I Am Lucy Maud Montgomery" where Xavier is anxious about being alone when he learns that Brad and Yadina are visiting their bubby and aunt, respectively. He dramatically cries when he assumes that they left, but they were really just a few inches away from him. Again, when Maud, Brad, and Yadina leave Xavier alone in the forest, he starts to get anxious. But this time, he talks to his own reflection to keep him company.
• Heartfelt Apology: Anytime the trio argue in an episode, they always apologize thanks to the lesson they learn.
• Heel–Face Turn: Sarah, the racist little girl, undergoes this in "I Am Jackie Robinson", when Jackie (who she was mean to) shows her kindness. This also happens to Brian, the kid who wouldn't let Yadina play on the swings. However, Brian still retains his bullying tendencies later on, but this could be due to the original Jackie Robinson no longer being canon as it got remade.
• He-Man Woman Hater: Bobby Riggs from "I Am Billie Jean King" is depicted as an overly masculine misogynist bully who thinks he can beat Billie Jean at tennis. He's wrong; she won the Battle of the Sexes.
• Hey, That's My Line!: Xavier says this after Brad is the one to say "Ready for an adventure?".
• Hiccup Hijinks: The episode "I Am Florence Nightingale" has Yadina get hiccups on the day she plans to give a school report on cookies. Everyone then goes back in time to get help from Florence Nightingale. In the end, she then decides to do her report on hiccups, and she's cured.
• Historical Domain Character: Xavier, Yadina, and Brad often go back in time and meet famous people of history when they were children, such as Rosa Parks and Leonardo da Vinci, who help them learn important lessons.
• Honesty Aesop: In "I Am Abraham Lincoln", Yadina accidentally drops her friend Annika's toy down the sewer. The gang visits Abraham Lincoln to learn a lesson in honesty. Abe had borrowed a book from his neighbor, but it gets ruined in the rain. To overcome his guilt, he tells the truth about it, showing Yadina she should do the same.
• Iconic Item: Each one of the historical heroes has an artifact that belonged to them that is featured.
• Iconic Outfit: Some historical figures are recognized by their outfits; special mentions go to Susan B. Anthony's red shawl, Mark Twain's white suit ^note  which he justified to be wearing in his episode for painting a fence white, as to hide stains , Fred Roger's red cardigan sweater and Bruce Lee's yellow one-piece tracksuit.
• Identical Grandson: Yadina and Great Great Grandma Riddle look fairly the same. To take this further, they also share the same interests and habits, from bad and corny puns to the cheese and grape jelly sandwiches which supposedly no one else likes.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Much like the books, the episode titles from this series start with "I Am" and the name of the historical figure featured in it or "We Are" if the episode features more than one historical figure, save for the Extra-Long Episode "I Am Madam President" since it features four historical figures.
• I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham: In "I Am Neil Armstrong", Yadina thinks she won't like cheese and marmalade sandwich, but when she tries it, she likes it.
• I Just Want to Be Special: In "I Am Fred Rogers", Xavier worries that Brad and Yadina won't want to hang out with him if the Secret Museum is closed. Xavier feels that without the Secret Museum, he's nothing. Fortunately, Fred Rogers teaches him that he is special just the way he is.
• Innocently Insensitive:
  • In "I Am Susan B. Anthony", Xavier and Yadina are so used to tending to the Secret Museum themselves that they unintentionally leave Brad out and don't let him have a say on what should go where.
  • In "I Am Alexander Graham Bell", Xavier and Yadina keep talking for Brad when he loses his voice instead of listening to him.
  • In "I Am Mary Seacole", after Brad falls off his bike, Xavier and Yadina are so focused on getting Brad back on his bike that they don't consider that he needs their compassion to truly feel better.
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: Brad loves traditionally feminine things such as butterflies and ballet. He also loves the color pink, as shown in "I Am Edwin Binney".
• Jewish and Nerdy: Brad is Jewish, as revealed in "I Am Tomioka Tessai"^note His special item is a dreidel, and his grandfather is shown wearing a kippah in a flashback, and is a huge nerd due to his love of comics, knowledge of butterflies, and good math skills (judging by how he always accurately calculates how many years back in time the kids will go).
• The Klutz: The trio have their fair share of klutzy moments, but more so Xavier and Brad than Yadina.
• Laborious Laces: Xavier has a habit of tripping on his untied shoelaces. For example, in the Jackie Robinson episode, he trips on his laces and accidentally sends the baseball into the racist kid's lawn. Brad calls him out on how often this happens in the Jigonsaseh episode.
• Lame Pun Reaction: In "I Am Johann Sebastian Bach", Yadina makes a pun based on Bach's name, but Brad and Xavier don't think it's funny.
• Language Barrier: Since the historical figures are located anywhere in the world, oftentimes some of the figures are in different countries and speak foreign languages that aren't English. When this happens, Xavier has to use a translator in order for the trio to even understand them.
• The Leader: "I Am George Washington" is about this trope. Yadina is picked to lead the Nature Troop, but proves to be a bad leader. The kids turn to the Secret Museum for help, and meet George Washington, who shows Yadina how to be a great leader.
• Leotard of Power: Jules Leotard wears one and it doubles as his relic.
• Limited Wardrobe: All the characters wear the same clothes most of the time. In fact, in "I Am Lou Gehrig", it's implied that Xavier has more than one of his signature red alien antennae hoodies.
• Limited Social Circle: Xavier, Yadina, and Brad are shown to have other friends, but they mostly hang out with eachother.
• Lost Voice Plot: In "I Am Alexander Graham Bell", Brad loses his voice and tries to make Xavier and Yadina listen to him to tell them what game he wants to play.
• Lotus Position: When time traveling, Yadina crosses her legs as if meditating.
• Luminescent Blush: Characters blush a lot in the show, usually from embarrassment or happiness.
• Mini-Golf Episode: The episode “I Am Isaac Newton” features the trio playing mini golf.
• Mistaken for Misogynist: In "I Am Dorothy Levitt", Xavier explains that Dorothy wrote a book to teach other woman how to drive. Yadina misinterprets this as Xavier saying that only woman were the target audience of the book and retaliates by saying boys could have also learned from the book.
  Xavier: Back then, cars had only just been invented and most people didn't know how to drive. Dorothy wrote a book to help teach other woman.
  Yadina: I bet her book could teach boys how to drive their own cars too.
• Mistakes Are Not the End of the World: "I Am Bob Ross" also teaches this lesson, showing how Bob Ross turned mistakes into happy little accidents.
• Mundane Utility: The Secret Museum uses its time travel powers to teach Xavier, Yadina, and Brad valuable life lessons, but sometimes the life lesson seems a bit too mundane to warrant time travel. For example, the Museum sends the trio to meet the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong... for the purpose of getting Yadina to try marmalade.
• My God, What Have I Done?: In "I Am Susan B. Anthony", Xavier and Yadina have this reaction when they realize they've been unfair to Brad by not letting him have a vote on what should go where in the Secret Museum.
• Never Bareheaded: Xavier always has his hood on, he even wears a swim camp resembling his hood when he goes swimming. The only exception was in “I Am Fred Rogers” and his adult self.
• Never Learned to Talk: Helen Keller in "I Am Helen Keller" can't speak due to her deafness, so her teacher Anne Sullivan tries to teach her words via sign language. At the end, she learns to say her dog Belle's name.
• Nice Girl:
  • Marie Owens stands out in this regard. She doesn't get mad when someone does something wrong and prefers to solve problems in a positive way.
  • Confucius is the Nice Guy variant. He treats everyone the way he would want to be treated as shown in his aforementioned episode where his friend is sick in bed, so he brings food, games and something to read, in a way to make her feel better.
  • Jigonsaseh also attempts to solve problems in a peaceful way. Instead of getting angry, she would rather communicate to solve something peacefully.
• No Antagonist: Zig-zagged. While the show doesn't have an overarching main antagonist, there are some antagonists that pop up in the hero's travels through time. Like the slavemaster in "I Am Harriet Tubman", and Bobby Riggs in "I Am Billie Jean King".
• Non-Standard Character Design: There are a few historical figures whose designs stand out the most.
  • Winston Churchill is the only character who is shown in be plump.
  • Helen Keller is the only character whose eyes don't have light (probably to show that she's blind, though Louis Braille is shown to have light in his eyes despite being blind).
  • Confucius is the only character depicted with Big Ol' Eyebrows.
  • Thurgood Marshall is the only character depicted with a Gag Nose.
  • William Shakespeare is the only male character depicted with ear piercings.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: The voice actors for the historical figures generally use appropriate accents, however...
  • In "I Am Edmund Hillary," Edmund doesn't have a New Zealand accent at all and instead speaks like a typical American kid.
  • Despite Mary Anning, Charlie Chaplin, Dorothy Levitt and Willard Wigan being British, they also lack British accents.
  • In "I Am Jesse Owens", Jesse Owens lacks his Southern accent, which he did have in real-life.
• No-Neck Chump: Zig-Zagged. All the kids and historical figures lack a profound neck, though how visible it is can vary from character to character. Xavier in particular, often has an indication of a neck under his head (tucked in his hood).
• Oh, Crap!: Brad freaks out every time the kids travel through time.
• Once an Episode: You can count on these things being a constant:
  • Brad being hesitant to travel back in time.
  • The kids going to the Secret Museum in a weird way, like via a tornado.
  • The kids saying their catchphrases.
  • The time travel sequence, where Yadina makes a meditation pose and Brad spins around.
• One-Steve Limit: Highly averted.
  • So far, there are 2 Alexanders (Graham Bell and Hamilton), 4 Marys (Shelley, Leakey, Anning and Seacole), 2 Georges (Washington and Washington Carver), 2 Maries (Curie and Owens), 2 Arthurs (Conan Doyle and Ashe) 2 Jackies (Robinson and Joyner-Kersee), 2 Louis' (Pasteur and Braille), 2 James' (Naismith and Braidwood) 2 Catherines (Catherine the Great and the other is Katherine Johnson, spelt with a "K") and two Williams (Shakespeare and Herschel).
  • There are also a few historical figures with the same surname, Owens (Marie and Jesse) and Roosevelt (Theodore and Eleanor; though it's justified since Theodore and Eleanor Roosevelt are related).
• Only One Who Likes Spam: Yadina is the only one who likes cheese and grape jelly sandwiches.
• Pepper Sneeze: In "I Am Zora Neale Hurston", one of Zora's stories is about a pepper shaker who keeps on sneezing and interrupting weddings.
• Pink Heroine: Yadina wears pink overalls. Not to mention some of the female heroes visited by the trio wear pink. Some of them are:
  • Zora Neale Hurston, who wears a dark pink sunhat with a light pink band around it.
  • Charlotte Bronte, who wears a pink bowtie.
  • Julia Child, who wears a pink apron.
  • Anna Pavlova, who wears pink ballet slippers (fittingly enough since she's a ballerina; and she only wore those when the Riddles meet her the first time).
  • Dolores Huerta, who wears a pinkish-magenta jacket.
  • Mary Anning, who has pink accents on her green dress and paleontologist hat.
  • Rukmini Devi, who wears a pink bharatanatyam dress.
  • Mary Seacole, who wears a dark pink button-up shirt and skirt.
• Performance Anxiety: Yadina often gets nervous singing infront of a large crowd of people, as shown in “I Am Ceila Cruz” and “I Am Fred Rogers”.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Sarah from "I Am Jackie Robinson", who is racist until she changes her ways.
• The Pollyanna: Lou Gehrig. Even when the going gets tough, he focuses on the good stuff, which he teaches Xavier, Yadina, and Brad.
• Power Trio: Xavier, Yadina, and Brad are the three main characters.
• Pretty Butterflies: Brad utterly adores butterflies for this exact reason. In "I Am Marie Curie", as he tells Marie about how much he loves butterflies, he imagines a swarm of butterflies flying around him.
• Prim and Proper Bun: Most of the female historical figures wear buns, and they mean business.
  • Susan B. Anthony takes part in a protest to let people know that everyone should have a vote.
  • Rosa Parks stands her ground when the bus driver tries to demand her to give up a seat for a white man.
  • Kate Warne is a detective and is shown to be pretty sassy too.
  • Ruth Bader Ginsburg had a small ponytail in the books, but this was changed into a bun in the episode.
• Public Domain Soundtrack: In "I Am Johann Sebastian Bach", a bit of "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" is played.
• Purple Is Powerful: Some of the heroes the trio meets wear purple. Some of those heroes are:
  • Leonardo da Vinci wears a purple hat and robe.
  • The Brontë Sisters, specifically Emily Brontë, wears a purple dress.
  • Eleanor Roosevelt is dressed head-to-toe in purple.
  • Marie Owens wears a purple tie.
  • Harriet Tubman wears a purple bandana, which doubles as her relic.
  • Ella Fitzgerald wears a purple dress and shoes.
  • Carol Burnett wears a pale purple sweater, pants and shoes.
  • Celia Cruz wears a shirt that has frilly sleeves and one of those frills is purple. Same thing with her frilly skirt and her purple shoes.
  • Beulah Louise Henry wears a purple dress and shoes.
  • Lucy Maude Montgomery wears a purple dress.
  • William Shakespeare wears purple pants.
• Pun: In "I Am Johann Sebastian Bach", Yadina makes a pun based on Bach's name, but Brad and Xavier don't think it's funny. She also has a habit of making terrible puns throughout the series.
• Puppy Love: Yadina gets a crush on both Kid!Abraham Lincoln and Kid!George Washington. Obviously, they are all kids.
• Red Is Heroic. Xavier Riddle wears a red hoodie and is one of the main heroes. There are also a few other historical figures who also wear red and they are:
  • Amelia Earhart, who wears a red scarf.
  • Susan B. Anthony, who wears a red shawl, which doubles as her relic.
  • Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who wears a red tank top and shorts.
  • Junko Tabei, who wears a red jacket.
  • Nellie Bly, who wears a brick-red overcoat and a red cap.
  • Kate Warne, who wears a dark red jacket and skirt.
  • Frederick Douglass, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Benjamin Banneker who wear red waistcoats.
  • Harry Houdini and Thurgood Marshall wear red ties (a bowtie and necktie, respectively).
  • James Naismith wears a brick-red jacket.
  • Jane Jacobs, who wears a red belt and shoes.
  • Fred Rogers, who wears a red cardigan sweater, which doubles as his relic.
  • King Sejong the Great, who wears a red robe.
  • Grandmaster Flash, who wears a red zipper hoodie and matching sweatpants.
  • Norval Morrisseau, who wears a red button-up short and red sneakers.
  • Edmonia Lewis, who wears a red jacket and hat.
• Read the Map Upside Down: What Yadina does when George Washington hands her the map and leads the group back where they started.
• Real Men Wear Pink: "I Am Billie Jean King" has Brad worried about being the only boy in the school ballet class, but he learns that it's okay to like traditionally feminine things and that girls and boys can do the same things.
• Rhymes on a Dime: A lot of rhymes are made in "I Am Mark Twain." For example, "We didn't notice the fence got done/We were having too much fun!"
• Robot Buddy: Berby, a small red robot, helps the kids time travel, and is shown in between episodes playing with them.
• Rousseau Was Right: The show teaches us, among other things, that everyone is good deep down.
• Running Gag:
  • Brad not wanting to time travel and making various excuses on why not to go.
  • Xavier and Brad not understanding Yadina's awful puns.
  • Yadina trying to blow her whistle in "I Am George Washington".
  • Xavier wanting to see an Iguana that he keeps missing in "I Am Mary Seacole".
  • Brad wanting a slice of cake in "I Am Zelia Nuttall".
• Same Clothes, Different Year: Abuela wears a similar shirt that resembles her dress from her youth.
• Scout-Out: Xavier, Yadina, and Brad are part of the Nature Troop, which is seen in a few episodes.
• Secondary Sexual Characteristics: To make them more recognizable, the child versions of male historical figures like Leonardo da Vinci and Mark Twain are generally depicted with mustaches and beards similar to those that the actual historical figures had, even though the child versions are way too young to have facial hair.
• Separate Scene Storytelling: Used in "I Am Esther Martinez," when Esther's grandfather tells a traditional Tewa legend.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Brad is the Sensitive Guy to Xavier's Manly Man. Brad is very shy and sensitive, and loves ballet and butterflies, while Xavier is more traditionally masculine and more outgoing.
• Shaped Like Itself: Brad does this when he tries to come up with an excuse on how he knew that the drawing Joe Shuster drew was of Superman.
  Brad: *gasps* That's Superman!
  Joe Shuster: Exactly! That's what the 'S' stood for. But, uh, how did you know?
  Brad: *gasps* Well, um, he looks like a super...man..?
• Shout-Out:
  • In "I Am Johann Sebastian Bach", Xavier practicing his high kick at sunset is a reference to The Karate Kid.
    • In that same episode, there was a Rocky reference when Xavier is running up the stairs.
  • In "I Am Marie Owens", costumes belonging to Fred Flintstone, Charlie Brown, Waldo, Harry Potter, Glinda the Good Witch,^note Or perhaps Princess Peach and Rocko Rama can be seen.
  • In the ending sequence of "We Are the Brontë Sisters", Brad slides his bike similar to the famous scene from AKIRA.
  • In the opening sequence of "I Am Madam President", the gang parodies iconic promotional shots from Batman: The Animated Series and A New Hope.
  • In "I Am Eugenie Clark", Brad says that sharks are brainless eating machines, referencing the Shark Pledge from Finding Nemo.
  • "We Are Siegel and Shuster" is about the creation of Superman. There is even a drawing of him in the episode.
    • In that same episode, Xavier catching Brad after he falls, and Brad responding with "You got me. But, who's got you?" is a referencing a scene in Superman (1978).
    • The trio introducing Superman like this is referencing the opening words to The Adventures of Superman.
      Xavier: Faster than a speeding bullet!
      Yadina: More powerful than a locomotive!
      Brad: Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!
• Shown Their Work:
  • Aside from a few cases of Artistic License – History, the show does have a lot of research and accuracy put into it. For example, Helen Keller and the water pump, the Bronte Sisters' made up world called Glass Town, George Washington Carver's secret garden, Amelia Earhart's homemade roller coaster, Zora Neale Hurston's characters named Miss Corn Shuck and Mr. Sweet Smell, etc.
  • The crew went out of their way to make Mister Rogers' Neighborhood TV set look 100% accurate in "I Am Fred Rogers". The puppets, the clock tower, the stoplight, everything.
  • Katie, who is blind but can see some shapes and colors, has a white cane with red bottom. Those types of canes indicate that the user has low but usable vision, which is true in her case.
  • In “I Am Norval Morrisseau”, Norval Morrisseau explains to the trio that he was taken away from his family and forced into a residential school, where he was not allowed to practice his Anishinaabe culture. Residential schools in real-life has hundreds of Indigenous children taken away from their families to assimilate them into Euro-Canadians (replace “assimilated into Euro-Canadians” with “not allowed to practice their culture”).
    • The crew also went out of their way to recreate Norval Morrisseau’s real-life paintings that were seen in the titular historical figure’s house.
• Signature Headgear: Some of the historical figures' artifacts are hats. Among these are Amelia Earhart's pilot cap and Abraham Lincoln's top hat.
• Silence in the Library: A Running Gag in "I Am Helen Keller" is one of the main characters yelling in the library, only to be shushed by the library patrons.
• Silent Treatment: In "I Am Lou Gehrig", Yadina gives Dr. Zoom the silent treatment because she's mad at her.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Falls heavily on the idealistic side. All of the historical figures provide a positive lesson to learn. The show also promotes the messages that kids can change the world for good.
• Slow "NO!": When Brad is about to drink from a broken water fountain, Xavier shouts a Big "NO!" and it’s depicted in slow motion.
• The Smurfette Principle: Yadina is the only girl in the trio.
• Something Person: BradMan, Brad's superhero persona.
• Start My Own: In "I Am Marie Curie", since the girls of Poland aren't allowed to go to university, they start their own university where they can learn more about science. Brad takes inspiration from this idea and starts a butterfly club for people under 10.
• Stay in the Kitchen: Referenced a few times in the show.
  • In "I Am Marie Curie", Marie isn't allowed to go to university because she's a girl.
  • In "I Am Susan B. Anthony", Susan says that at her time, only men could vote.
  • In "I Am Ruth Bader Ginsburg", Ruth explains that the military does not give extra benefits and healthcare to women working in the military, only to men.
• Storefront Television Display: In "I Am Neil Armstrong", the gang gets to see Neil Armstrong land on the moon via televisions displayed in a storefront.
• Strictly Formula: All the episodes have the same format. One of the characters has a problem, so the gang goes to the Secret Museum for help. Brad always protests against going there, but is made to come along anyways. The kids access the Secret Museum in a certain way (that can differ from episode to episode) such as through a dinosaur mouth or by posing in an Egyptian exhibit, etc. Then, they slide down the pole, in the exact same order: Xavier, Yadina, and Brad.^note Except for "I Am Mark Twain", where Xavier is last and "I Am Eugenie Clark", where Brad is first, due to him accidentally stumbling into Berby's portal. The Secret Museum presents them with an artifact from the person they're going to meet, shows a hologram of the person, and shows the location and year. Berby delivers the kids back in time, where they meet the person. The person helps the focus character solve their problem by delivering the Aesop of the episode, multiple times, until the focus character gets it. When they get it, the kids decide to go back home, where they solve their problem.
• Suddenly Speaking: Helen in "I Am Helen Keller" when she says her dog's name for the first time, Belle.
• Sweet Home Alabama: In "I Am Zora Neale Hurston", the kids travel back in time to Florida, where Zora Neale Hurston is. Everyone there is super polite.
• Tears of Joy:
  • Brad cries these tears after Xavier gives an amazing performance at the school talent show in "I Am Johann Sebastian Bach".
  • He does this again at the end of "I Am Madam President" after Yadina thanks Xavier for making her part of their new exhibit on the female heroes they visited.
  • He does it yet again at the end of "I Am Nellie Bly" after Yadina gets bold enough to climb the monkey bars and Xavier congratulates her for it.
• The Teaser: Before the main story of each episode starts, the episodes open with Xavier, Yadina, and Brad (in a white void) greeting the viewer and introducing the hero that they're going to meet.
• Thanking the Viewer: Every episode ends with Xavier, Yadina, and Brad thanking the kids watching at home for joining them on their adventures.
• Thinker Pose: Yadina and Dr. Zoom imitate this pose in the beginning of "I Am Edmonia Lewis".
• Time Travel: The show's M.O. Every episode, the characters travel back in time to visit a historical figure that will inspire them to solve their problem.
• Tin-Can Telephone: The crew attempts to use tin can phones in the intro for "I Am Alexander Graham Bell." They can't get the phones to work (clearly, they hadn't been told that the string has to be stretched taut), and they quickly end up getting tangled up as they walk around trying to figure the phones out.
• Title, Please!: No episode titles are given in the show.
• Token Trio: Inverted. Xavier and Yadina are Hispanic ^note  Implied in "I Am Tomioka Tessai" and eventually confirmed in "I Am Jackie Robinson (remake)". Though as the former also implies a mixed background, they're still Ambiguously Brown to some extent , and Brad is Jewish.
• Token White: Brad is the only white character of the main cast.
• To the Tune of…: In "I Am Fred Rogers", the gang and Rogers sing a song called "When I Feel Happy", which is sung to the tune of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home". Note that this song was created specifically for the episode and was never on Rogers' show.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Yadina's is a cheese and grape jelly sandwich.
• Trash of the Titans: In "I Am David Suzuki," Xavier's clubhouse is filled with trash, and he doesn't feel like cleaning it up. After traveling back in time to meet David Suzuki, he realizes how important keeping the Earth clean is.
• Tutu Fancy: In the opening sequence to "I Am Anna Pavlova", Yadina wears a tutu.
• Two Guys and a Girl: Xavier and Brad are boys, and Yadina is a girl.
• Two Words: Added Emphasis: In "I Am Cleopatra", Xavier doesn't know how to ask his parents if he can stay up late to see a supermoon. Yadina suggests telling them that Xavier has two words: "Super. Moon." Xavier points out that it did not work when Dr. Zoom wanted "More. Pie."
• Very Special Episode:
  • The half-hour special, "I Am Harriet Tubman", tackles slavery. It also first premiered in primetime.
  • The episode "I Am Ruth Bader Ginsburg", which is also a 22-minute special, tackles sexism.
• Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: The characters get these sort of eyes in extreme emotions like fear, anger, etc. This is just one example.
• Women Are Wiser: Yadina, a girl, seems to be the most intelligent between Brad and Xavier, who are boys.
• Yiddish as a Second Language: Owing to Brad's Jewish heritage, he often says "Oy vey" when he's frustrated, exhausted, or worried.
• You Go, Girl!: The Billie Jean King episode shows Billie Jean working hard at playing tennis and eventually beating Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes, proving to the whole world that girls and boys can do the same things.
• Young Future Famous People: Xavier, Yadina, and Brad travel back in time to meet famous people of history when they were children like Albert Einstein, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, and Marie Curie. As children, the historical figures possess the attributes that made them famous in adulthood. Even facial hair. The point of the show is to demonstrate that historical figures used to be children and yet changed the world with their positive messages.