Victory for the Vikings!

Such is the new Striking Viking Story Pirates show, Cookie To All Of Us, and Other Stories — a series of musical skits cleverly based on short stories written by elementary school children. The kids write about ordinary and not so ordinary events — the first time a child gets to go to a movie without his parents, a new sibling who usurps the firstborn’s status. Other stories include a teacher who is really an alien and eats through his ear (with great, squishy sound effects), and a donut machine that comes alive. Many have an absurd premise, and not much of a resolution, but are enjoyable nonetheless; in “The Day My Head Got Stuck in a Barstool”, a boy follows his dog’s lead, getting stuck, eating dog food and drinking from the toilet. Kids find this hilarious.

Each show is about an hour long, with 10 or so skits; the content varies from time to time so that kids can return to a fairly new show. Of course most kids also like to see things over and over, too. With short scenes and fast pacing, the show moves quickly and is suitable for toddlers on up; the upper age limit is about 6th grade, the oldest of the child authors.