General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Amber Brown

Amber Brown is an American children's comedy-drama television series created, written, and directed by Bonnie Hunt, based on Paula Danziger's bestselling middle grade book series of the same name. Apple TV+ ordered the series on September 28, 2021, and released all ten episodes of its single season on July 29, 2022.¹^•² The show follows an eleven-year-old girl finding her voice through art and music in the wake of her parents' divorce, and it was canceled after one season in April 2023.³

Key fact	Detail
Network and order	Apple TV+ series order announced September 28, 2021¹
Premiere	July 29, 2022, with all 10 episodes released at once²
Creator	Bonnie Hunt, who wrote, directed, executive produced, and showran the series¹
Main cast	Carsyn Rose (Amber Brown), Sarah Drew (Sarah Brown), Darin Brooks (Max), Liliana Inouye (Brandi Colwin), Ashley Williams (Aunt Pam)⁴
Source books	Paula Danziger's series, published in 53 countries with over 10 million copies in print¹
Production	Boat Rocker Studios, for Apple TV+; rated TV-G⁴
Cancellation	Not renewed after one season; reported April 12, 2023³

Spoilers

Premise and format

The series centers on Amber Brown (Carsyn Rose), who is starting the sixth grade amid a period of transition: her parents are divorcing, her mother Sarah (Sarah Drew) has a new partner, Max (Darin Brooks), and her best friend Justin (Joshua Gallup) is moving away.⁵ Amber processes her new family dynamic through her sketches and a video diary, and a new friend and neighbor, Brandi Colwin (Liliana Inouye), gives her another outlet for expressing her feelings.¹ Ashley Williams plays Amber's Aunt Pam.⁴

The show is a half-hour single-camera comedy that combines live action with animation, which the production uses to depict the imagination of an eleven-year-old.⁶ Episode runtimes average about 22 minutes.⁷ The first season's episodes include "I, Amber Brown," in which Amber starts middle school without Justin, "No Place Like Two Homes," in which she auditions for the school play as her dad moves into a new apartment, and the finale "Life."⁸

Development and production

Bonnie Hunt, an actress and filmmaker whose credits include "Jerry Maguire," "Life with Bonnie," and voice roles in the "Cars" and "Monsters, Inc." franchises, developed the series. She has said she was working on a different idea about an eccentric aunt when a producer introduced her to Danziger's books, and the collaboration became her passion project.⁹ Danziger's family gave Hunt creative license to take Amber's story into 2022; Hunt said what she retained from the books was "heart, intelligence and humor."¹⁰

Hunt added personal touches to the adaptation: because she loves to draw, she made Amber a sketcher, and she brought her mother's "wit, wisdom and love" to the characters.⁹ The series was produced for Apple by Boat Rocker, with Bob Higgins and Jon Rutherford executive producing for the studio.¹ The executive producer roster also included Bruce Coville, Elizabeth Levy, and Carrie Danziger.⁸

The book series

Paula Danziger began the Amber Brown chapter book series in 1994 with Amber Brown Is Not a Crayon, published by Putnam, in which third grader Amber copes with her best friend Justin moving away and with her parents' divorce.¹¹ The series was praised for capturing the kid experience in a funny, relatable voice; School Library Journal gave the first book a starred review calling it "a funny, touching slice of third-grade life, told in the voice of a feisty, lovable heroine."¹²

Danziger wrote nine books in the series before her death in 2004. In 2012, her friends and fellow authors Bruce Coville and Elizabeth Levy revived the series and have since written three more entries, beginning with Amber Brown Is Tickled Pink (2012), in which Amber's mother marries Max.¹³^•¹⁴ The books have been published in 53 countries with over 10 million copies in print.¹ In 2024, Putnam published a graphic novel adaptation of Amber Brown Is Not a Crayon adapted and illustrated by Victoria Ying.¹⁵

Reception and cancellation

The series received favorable press coverage at launch. The Associated Press wrote that what Hunt had done for adults in projects such as "Jerry Maguire" she now "generously extends to children—and the grownups who love them," and Variety called it "a rare and essential series aimed at an important, formative age group that Hollywood frequently neglects."¹² On Rotten Tomatoes the audience (Popcornmeter) average stood at 67 percent.¹⁶ Hunt received a 2023 Directors Guild of America Award nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs and a 2023 Writers Guild of America Award nomination for Best Children's Episodic, Long Form and Specials.⁷

On April 12, 2023, more than eight months after the season's release, Apple TV+ opted not to renew the series for a second season; the cast's options had expired, according to Deadline.³^•⁵

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Adapted and franchise screen series › Children's and family franchise series

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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