Jakers!
Hi folks! I’m out of town on vacation this week, but I have some excellent guest posts lined up while I’m gone. Today’s post was written by the fabulous Kelly Erb. Kelly writes about children’s books at www.tinytreasury.com.
It’s rare that I find myself actually looking forward to a particular
kids’ TV show. I’ll admit to even manipulating the “choices”
available to Katie and Amy merely to avoid another second of
Caillou’s whining or the same episode of Dora over and over.
But that all changed when I got a peek at Jakers! If you haven’t
seen, put it on your list. I think it’s the best animated kids’
series on TV.
Jakers! is geared towards the 4-7 year old crowd (though my 3 year
old LOVES it) and is based on a simple premise: it’s a story about a
boy growing up with his friends in rural Ireland in the 1950s. Okay,
the boy is actually a pig and his friends are a duck and a bull, but
otherwise, it’s pretty straightforward. Each story opens and closes
with the boy, Piggley Winks, in the future, old and gray (well, as
old and gray as pigs get) telling stories about growing up.
Sometimes he remembers things a little bit differently than his
sister does, which adds to the fun.
Jakers! isn’t flashy which is part of its charm. I love that the
show focuses on simple stories that are fun and entertaining without
being preachy. It nicely reinforces the importance of family,
especially grandparents, without being obvious. There are lots of
cultural elements focusing on music, holidays and tradition thrown
in, too, - and not just Irish - with a really nice touch that doesn’t
feel forced.
While the animation is beautiful and soft with 3-D images that will
remind you of “Finding Nemo”, the appeal of Jakers! really is in the
story. When is the last time that happened? Of course, if you find
yourself tuning because Wiley the Sheep sounds familiar, he is. He’s
voiced by the inimitable Mel Brooks.
And in case you’re wondering, the name Jakers! is based on an Irish
expression meaning “wow!” or “amazing!” And that it is.
February 24th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I live in the Kirkland/Seattle area of Washington and really miss Jakers. Can you tell me when it is aired here……PBS kids usually had it on on Satudays….
Such a great cartoon…even for adults who are still kids and IRISH
Thanks !
Lynn
February 25th, 2008 at 6:01 am
According to the PBS website (http://www.pbs.org/parents/tvprograms/program-jakers-airdates.html) it airs at 4am daily, except on Saturday, in your area. On the page above just insert your zipcode and you can see the schedule of airings. Perhaps you can Tivo, VCR record, or DVD record it since it does not exactly air at a convenient time to watch live.