Hello, Sweden!

Nickelodeon Nordic just put some Edgar & Ellen games on their site and suddenly Sweden, Norway and Finland jumped to the top 10 countries sending fans to http://edgarandellen.com Number eleven? Why, Denmark.

Never underestimate the power of casual games! The one that's getting the most play is Pet Soccer, featuring Pet, the beloved hairy eyeball as the soccer ball.

Twin wins for Edgar & Ellen at Elan Awards

The mischievous twins sneaked off with two top prizes at Canada's Elan Awards, winning both Best Art Direction and Best Series.

Their Valentine’s Special “Crushed” (in which Edgar’s heart is temporarily broken) won the award entitled “Best Production Design or Art Direction” which may have helped mend his heart. But if it didn’t, Edgar and his identical twin sister Ellen should be celebrating the fact that they took the Seven Group Award for Best Animated Production – Television Series.

For me the real prizes come in the hundreds of emails from kids on http://edgarandellen.com, like this one from 10 year old Sara, last week, "Hello, I really like your cartoons and your books! At first Isaw alot of people reading it, and I wondered if it was as good as people said it was. I really like Pet because he is so ugly he's cute, sneaky, and mysterious."

Geometry of kid characters

What makes characters who have no arms and no discernable expressions so popular among kids? Sponge Bob is a square, M and M's characters are circles and Pet is a triangle.

The McDonald's McNugget Buddies are ovals, and kids used to love the little Fry Guys who were round hairy mops on stilty legs--all they could ever do was play soccer. Kid squeal with they see Pet crawl across the screen. And the giant purple triangle, Barney, continues to be roundly loved.

Healthy Pet

Kids send in all kinds of imaginative fare in the "Pet Sightings" section of http://www.edgarandellen.com and why not? Edgar & Ellen's pet, "Pet," who appears to be a hairy eyeball, comes in a shape that's easy to spot and to imitate. I share this one with you in my quest to inspire ways to make healthy food fun.

Sparkles and muscles

Face painting at Chicago's 57th Street Book Festival provided a great reminder of what kids like.

The picture was always Edgar & Ellen's pet, "Pet" a one-eyed fur-ball of indeterminate gender. 93% of all children preferred sparkles. But a few of the older boys were hesitant to get painted until they saw Pet on this impressive arm.

"I want one just like the strong guy!"

Superheroes come in all shapes and styles.