ODDLER STORYTIME rop-in storytime for toddlers ged 2 & 3 years. Fridays at 10 11 a.m. at N.V. City Library. or more intormaticn call 980- ¢ North Vancouver Youth nd is seeking new members. bass players are needed! all young musicians, 12 ears and older, of all levels are Ge ‘ome. For more information Brall Ron Smith at 929-3637. OLOGY CENTRE BLynn Canyon Ecology Centre ool programs information ine: 981-31 03. DS TALENT SEARCH BABPNE talent search until Aug. 24 Svith finals Aug. 37 in the ri Auditorium. Conpiled by Ann Hamilton Recta I strapped on ic space fight flight Im. pases Tales spark success for W. Vani couple By Layne Christensen News Reporter layne@usnews.com AS mayor of Tell-a- Tale Town, Lois Walker presides over a cast of colorful characters whose tall tales enthrall thousands of tiny TV viewers each week. Since the program made its debut in °92, children aged four te 10 have been tuning in to Lois and her friends — Lee the Librarian, Oma Lara the General Store Owner and Chris the Ice Cream Parlor Clerk —- and an ever-changing array of guest storyteilers. Walker, who along with her mayoral duties is also. the show’s co-creator and creative director, is pleased with the show’s success and its focus on storytelling. Herb Walker, Lois’ hus- band and executive producer of the show, calls it intelligent children’s programming. Lois thinks it just makes sense. “Parents are getting dis- gusted with violence, they’re getting disgusted with anima- tion,” says Lois, 54 and the mother of three grown sons. “It does worry you that chil- dren are growing up watching, television with no real knowl- edge of what a story is — a real story.” Friday, August 22, 1997 — North Shore News — 19 ent TV for children OMA Lara Oyesiku (left), Lois Walker and Lee Karvonen (right) are the main char- acters in Tell-a-Tale Town. Chris Casillon (middie feft) is new to the cast. Tell-a-Tale Town is an alternative to what Herb calls “that animated stuff.” And kids seem to like it. Since the Walkers, who reside in West Vancouver, began working in live-action elevision, they’ve produced more than 800 programs rep- resenting six specialized series. These include Take Part!, Hands Up nds On! and Hey Kids! What’s Cooking? In five years, the Walkers have received more than 300,000 Ictters from fans, many of them personally answered by Herb’s mother Adeline Walker, who lives in Edgemont Village. “If you sent a letter, Grandma Walker read it,” says Lois. But that’s changing. Children are now encour- . aged to e-mail their feedback to lowalker@direct.ca. You sec, Tell-a-Tale town is moving into the global village. Last year, the Walkers launched a website, Take Part for _ Kids. Dial up http://www. loiswalker.com and you'll find activities for teachers, parents and kids to pursue. There are arts-and-crafts projects and “if you're a beginning storyteller there are ideas about how you get start- ed,” says Lois. Read-along sto- ries encourage children to share the storytelling with par- ents, brothers, sisters and friends, This summer, the Walkers have been back in the studio taping 65 new episodes of Tell- A-Tale Tewn. The new seg- ments begin airing cn Global Television weekdays at 6:30 a.m, starting Sept. 1. Meanwhile, the first series of Tell-a-Tale Town, shot in Ol, can be viewed on YTV weekdays at 1 p.m. CRITICS AVERAGE RATING KIDS FOLLOW THE WATER SAFETY RULES DO YOU? * The Canadian Red Cross Society Fre-school classes a7’ R.A.D. Ballet Modem - Tap Hip - Hop Competitions Performing Company . (by audition unty) REGISTRATION DAY Tues., Aug. 26, 3:30-7:30pm & Sept. 4th and 5th 10am-2:00pm North Shore Academy of Dancing 1819 Capilano Rd. (3 blocks north or Marine Drive) 987-3814 MPAA “THEME VIOLENCE. COARSE | SEX & LANG PG. rom/com ae gooey R thriller [ey y rip oft — some say “pay bute :t0” — the Star Wars Saga. . «Whether blasting your way am along a pre-set path or enter- ae ing and ID4ish free-for-all in l.range mode,” Star Fox and his pals are consistently i in the thick of it and, aside from Peg those dull cutaways which are x ‘cute /informative ONCE, the ™ action is intense. The vibrator, Me er, “rumble pack” reminds g you : in no small way that you've hit.a barrier or you're B.about to die. linishing the game is easy but. geiting into a:“expert mode” is decidedly ‘more: difficult: Massacre the enemy or be content with ichild’s play- and therein fies SF64’s greatest asset, the more addicted you are the more fin you'll have. A_full- on frenzy. Great rental. Great prema: purchase. Tail of the Sun on the «> You’re Ug the Caveman. LYou’re pretty dumb, weak and very hungry. Your mission? i 3 Fat, sleep, propagate and grab THE more addicted you are the more fun you'll have with STAR Fox 64. a brain. Low end graphics and rambling meandering make this game more intriguing than tatense, but since your abilities as a hunter/gatherer can make or break your tribe’s abilicy to be fruirful and mul- tiply, you'll be surprised by how much you really start to care for your dumb and homely Homo Erectus. With a small planet full of various chunks of brain food and reluctant red meat, hours of game play equals scaled, real- me years. Soon your ‘ Hi village full of Ugs who pa. jown when you bring home the big food, i.e. the Woolly Mammoth who's tusks are used to build a tower to the tail of ihe sun. I suppose you're trying to find religion in the grand scheme of things, but the casy-going, take-a-nap-if-you- want attitude makes Tail a real nice walk in a globe-sized park. No pressure, just “wild, pure, simple life.” Who knew? Good rental. Good Purchase. TOP. FIVE RENTALS ge (Psx} (Willow Video Garres | in the Park Tilford Shopping Centre — Shawn Conlin 8. Evita mers SRG BS: ar &.10. ge Ae SS Hollywood rental. : te ge Qn . 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