Inspired by Disney anthropomorphism, Czech animator Zdenek Miler invented Krtek the mole in 1956 to star in a short animated film to educate children on the processing of flax seed. In 1963 he began producing new cartoons based on the character, but instead of narraion elected to use his young daughters act as voice actors, providing non-verbal exclamations but no spoken words.

There is something very slow and deliberate about the cartoons in this series that make it feel at once primitive and perhaps a little slow for today's kids but make the stories' jokes that much funnier. Here are a couple of good episodes, which you'll find with translated titles from every eastern European country as well as in English. Like the Smurfs, Barbapapa, and Moomin, Krtek has become an international icon of only transitional importance in the U.S.

I liked this first episode a lot because Z and I have been working pretty hard on learning to read notes on a staff as part of her violin practice. Be patient with the pacing and you and your child will be delighted by it.



Mole's most frequent companions are the mouse and rabbit shown in the episode below. Their near-constant presence makes what happens at about 3:40 in the video you are about to see truly shocking. I find the music that accompanies this tragic turn of events hilarious. It is about as desperate a tenor as this slow-moving action can achieve.



- Jeremiah

I'd have to know you a little better personally to have any idea whether you would find the following videos extremely annoying or endearing and funny. I do know, however, that any child in the vicinity who is between the ages of four and eighteen is going to love Alexei Alexeev's KJFG series, which I discovered yesterday on Drawn.





Interestingly, the YouTube tributes to KJFG #5, while undeniably annoying, may actually improve the flavor of the original, if you liked these cartoons already. Note that these tributes are coming out of Japan, Russia, and Brazil, respectively.






Annoying, right? But now that you've sat through one or two, watch the originals at the top. They're even better. - Jeremiah

I aspire to this kind of experience for our family. Someday!

(For the origin of this story, see today's Halloween notes on Z Recommends.) - Jeremiah

Happy Halloween, Punnyboppers! For this episode of Mini Media Mogul, Sarina and I have picked out three picture books perfect for the season.

Over in the Hollow

By Rebecca Dickinson, Illustrated by Stephan Britt (Chronicle Books, 2009)

Do you know the classic rhyme "Over in the Meadow?" That’s what inspired Over in the Hollow - it has the same rhyme scheme and children-echo-their-parents format, but with a Halloween twist. The characters in the book are a mother and daughter spider ("'Spin,' hums the mother/'I spin,' hums the one"), a mummy dad and his kids, plus families of owls, vampires, bats, witches, and so on. Appropriately for the holiday, this counting book goes up to the number thirteen.

The illustrations in this one are busy and energetic -cluttered, even, but still cute. It's nice to have a book that not only mentions mommies and daddies, but also grandparents and an aunt and uncle. It’s also easy to sing along with if you know the melody of the original.

Mouse's First Halloween

By Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Buket Erdogen (Simon & Schuster, 2000)

This is one of Sarina's favorites all year round. It's one of the "Mouse's First" series, which follow a curious young mouse on his brave adventures. In this one, he creeps around the house and hears all sorts of strange noises. "Eek!" he squeaks each time. "What could it be?" Children are given little clues in the pictures to help them guess what's coming. Then Mouse finds out what's making the noise - kittens, falling leaves, Trick or Treaters - and declares each time, "That's all. Not so scary after all."

The illustrations are richly painted, though sometimes just a bit hard to decipher because of the dark palettes. And the only part of the story that surprised me was the very first discovery: "Swooping bats! That's all. Not so scary after all." I don't know about you, but I find a bunch of swooping bats pretty scary.

My daughter had this book memorized after just a few readings, and she would giggle with delight every "Eek!" and smile for every sound effect. I'd recommend it for younger kids than the book suggests; it was perfect for my two-year-old.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

By Linda Williams, illustrated by Meghan Lloyd (HarperCollins, 1988)

In this long-loved story, a spunky little old lady is on her way home through the woods when a pair of shoes comes to life and begins following her. "Get out of my way!" she tells the shoes. "I'm not afraid of you." The shoes follow her anyway, and then comes a pair of pants - and a shirt, gloves, shirt, and so on. Each new item has its own sound ("wiggle wiggle," "nod nod," "shake shake"), and each time something new arises, the little old lady again proclaims she is not afraid of it.

The final object is a floating pumpkin head... which causes her to run into her house (even though she is NOT AFRAID… liar, liar, pants on fire). They're all pretty bummed that she refuses to be afraid, until she comes up with a solution: they can form themselves into a scarecrow and scare the birds away from her garden.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything is a great book for toddlers and young kids, who will enjoy echoing and acting out the sounds, and will appreciate that the illustrations really aren't scary. You can even get it in a book-and-CD combo format.

Do you have a favorite Halloween read for kids? Share it in the comments!

Jenna Glatzer (www.jennaglatzer.com) is the author of 19 books. Her most recent collaboration is Unthinkable with Scott Rigsby, the first double-amputee to finish the world-famous Hawaiian Ironman triathlon. Jenna lives with her two-year-old daughter in New York. - Jenna Glatzer

A film by Dutch animator Sjors Vervoort.



[Via BoingBoing] - Jeremiah

Behold! This week we bring you four reviews of CDs. As we did in our previous installment of book reviews, I'll rank these in descending order of awesomeness. Watch out, Terrible Twos!

What a Ride! by Eric Herman and the Invisible Band

To our minds, children’s music doesn’t get any better than this. Other CDs have come and gone in our household, but Eric Herman’s stay in heavy rotation - and his latest, What a Ride!, is among his best.

We were introduced to Eric Herman’s music when we won a contest listed on Prizey. His YouTube video for "The Elephant Song" is ridiculously popular, with more than 8 million views so far, and it’s very cute:


But we soon learned that Mr. Herman is no one-hit wonder. All of his songs are good. Not one that I want to skip. And so Sarina and I both became huge fans when she was just 18 months old. She picked up on the lyrics easily, and before she turned two, we filmed a “tribute concert” where she sang her favorites. Take a look and a listen to this:


This music is fun, funny, catchy, and optimistic. You just can’t pout and listen to What a Ride! at the same time. Most of the topics are silly, like the snacks a baby leaves behind in a car seat, a stinkbug who bathes ten times a day, and a monster who sits on a school. But there’s also a serious side here: Two songs reminding kids and parents to enjoy themselves in the busyness of life (“Take a while to laugh and smile and say, ‘Hey, what a ride!’”) and to notice that their world is bigger than they can see (“So whether you're an itty bitty bug or a kid in a galaxy/Your life is always as big as you dream”).

Field Trip by Recess Monkey

Very closely pulling in to the second spot is Seattle band Recess Monkey with their latest album, Field Trip. Three elementary school teachers got together and decided to rock. For kids. And the thing about it is that they are all kinds of great. I listen to this CD in my car when my daughter isn’t even with me, ON PURPOSE. It’s that much fun.

It amazes me that these three people just happened to be teaching at the same school. They sound perfect together, with layered arrangements and a Beatles-esque vibe (though decidedly goofier).

Upbeat, very memorable, very danceable. And generous with their samples, too - check their website for free full-length videos. If you can get through “Haven’t Got a Pet Yet” without bopping around in your chair… well, I’ll be horrified. What kind of person are you, anyway? Just listen:

Picnic Playground by Putumayo Kids

I’ve seen so many positive reviews of Putumayo Kids around the web, and honestly, I couldn't help but wonder if there might be a “cultural correctness” at play - reviewers afraid to criticize a multicultural project for kids. I would not have picked up a multilingual CD on my own for my 2-year-old daughter because we like to be able to sing along to music.

I received Picnic Playground for review and was pleasantly surprised, for the most part. With the exception of "Mes Parents Sont Bio" (My Parents Are Organic) - which, if paired on repeat with eye surgery in a humid room, might qualify for legal torture - I thought it was a good album, with solid production values and bubbly melodies. But I swear if I hear "bio, bio, bio, bio, bio” one more time, I will not hold myself responsible for the safety of that CD.

Bad album spotlight: Jerzy the Giant by The Terrible Twos

What happened to my Terrible Twos? This album was a colossal disappointment for me. I loved their debut, If You Ever See An Owl. It’s our main breakfast CD - perfect for starting the day because it’s energetic, yet gentle and sweet. (Recess Monkey makes great car music; the Terrible Twos used to make great morning music.)

Their second album, Jerzy the Giant, came out last year, and somehow it lacked least 83 percent of the charm of the first one. It’s nowhere near as innocent-sounding, nowhere near as loving, despite that the song titles sounded just as cute. This selection of songs is more uneven, with some that seem to have been written because someone, somewhere told them they should be more "edgy.” How they made a song named “Olly Olly Oxen Free” sound angry is beyond me:


What’s funny to me is that my 2-year-old often requests The Terrible Twos, but now she always specifies for me: “I want the old Terrible Twos.” Me too, kiddo.

Jenna Glatzer is the author of 19 books. Her latest is the inspirational Christian memoir Unthinkable with Scott Rigsby, a double-amputee who completed the Hawaiian Ironman. Visit her at www.jennaglatzer.com. - Jenna Glatzer