We went to the park today. We played on the see-saw. We saw Dean and Chip there too. Do you have a park near your house? I hope so. Do you say "Hello!" to the other children or are you very shy? Some people are...some people aren't!

Today's picture is for Denise. She likes Dean! Dean has a baby sister called Dee. He is a very good brother. He plays with Dee every day. In 'At Home' Dee is very small but 'At the Store' she is bigger. Do you have a brother or a sister? I have 4 sisters and 2 brothers.

I am very happy today. My friend Yildiray sent me the Good Friends song in Turkish. Look at the picture of the man talking to a piece of ice cream in Turkey. Could you eat all that? I could! Do you talk to ice cream? I don't. Just potatoes!

iyi arkadaslar
birbirleriyle konusur
birbirini dinler
birlikte oynar
paylasmayi sever
birbirine yardimci olur
hediye verir
arkadasini onemser

Do you brush your teeth after every meal. Buddy does and you should too! Look at his white teeth. Look at all the bubbles!

Have you ever seen a potato milking a cow? No? Then you should watch 'On the Farm'.

My niece's (that's my sister's daughter) name is Daisy! The Potato Pal Daisy is named after her. She sent me this picture of her potato cousin. Do you have any cousins?

Daisy's twin sisters have got two little fish! Hurray! Hard luck dad. You've just caught an old boot. Never mind! When you go camping do you bring a fishing rod?

Buddy's getting a haircut but he only has one hair. Will the barber cut his hair? Do you go to the barber or does someone in your family cut your hair?

Hey Mr. Monkey! Give me back my hat. That's not funny! Will Buddy's dad get his hat back? He isn't a happy daddy! Does someone in your family wear a hat?
This is from 'At the Zoo'.

How many Potato Pals books can you see? There are lots. Have you read them all? Which one is your favourite? I like this one but you can't buy it in the shops. Shhhhhhh!

Look at the Potato Pals dancing and singing in Japan. Try and copy the Japanese writing. It's fun! This picture is from the book 'At School'. The teacher is called Mrs. Baker. She loves to sing and dance. Does your teacher sing and dance too? I hope so!

Buddy is swimming with his cap on! Can you swim. Do you swim in the sea or a swimming pool or a river or a lake or pond? Buddy swims every morning. He's a sporty potato. Look at the Potato Pals at the beach.

Here are Ami and Kai. They are reading together. Ami is Kai's big sister. Kai is Ami's little brother. Do you have a brother or a sister? What's their name? Watch at Ami's film of 'In the Morning'. What do you do in the morning?

Try and learn the Good Friends song in English and your own language. If you have time, send me your message here. That would make the Potato Pals very happy indeed.

The big piece of paper has all the drawings of the ideas in the Potato Pals books. They are very messy! When you have some ideas it's a good idea to make lots of messy drawings. The man in the picture looks like a potato doesn't he?

Look at these great potatoes! They were made by some children in Turkey. How do you think they were made?
(stockings full of earth and grass seed which grows as hair...cool idea,eh!)

The Potato Pals had a great time in Taiwan last year. Taiwan is very beautiful and the food is very good. Nina wants to go shopping in Taiwan again. So does Dean. He liked the museums.

This is Devon. He loves Potato Pals so much. He spent all his pocket money on Potato pals readers. Oh dear, Devon!

This little person ate Buddy! Oh no!!! Was he yummy? Don't try this at home kids!

This picture is of Brian and Rie. Brian wrote the Potato Pals songs. He is a songwriter. He did a good job! Rie drew the pictures. She is an illustrator. She did a good job too! Well done Brian and Rie!

This is a very old cartoon we did with some potatoes. They didn't have hair in those days! That was 10 years ago. Click on it to make it bigger.

This is easy! Ask a grown-up to print this out for you, stick it on card and you can make your own Potato Pal. Have fun!

Hey! Someone has cut the top off Mt. Fuji. Oh no, sorry, it's Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. People in Tanzania speak Swahili. Here is the Good Friends song in Swahili:
Rafiki nzuri...

wanaongea pamoja
wanasikiana pamoja
wanacheza pamoja
wanakodisha vitu
wanagawana vitu
wanasaidiana pamoja
wanampa zawadi
wang aliana

This is my friend Setsuko with some of her friends. Setsuko writes very nice books for children. She likes wearing a Potato suit! Do you want to wear one?
(Setsuko is the human version of Nina. She loves shopping!)

This is my friend Luis from Colombia. Colombia is in South America. Do you think Luis looks like Dean? Which Potato Pal do you look like?

This is a mountain in Japan called Mt. Fuji. The Potato Pals were grown in Japan. If you roll a potato from the top of Mt. Fuji it will go all the way to the bottom. You can try it one day if you come to Japan.

This is a picture of Sweden. And this is the Good Friends song in Swedish. Look at the little circles above the 'A's. I wonder what they mean!

Tala med varandra,
Lyssna på varandra,
leka tillsammans,
låna saker,
dela saker,
hjälpa varandra,
ge presenter,
omtänksamhet,

Thanks Jan!

This classroom in Vietnam has their own Potato Pals mural. A mural is a painting on the wall. Ask before you do one! Which Potato Pal can you see? Yes, it's Joy from 'In the Evening'.
('In the Evening' is in Series 1. It's about Joy and her dog Poppy. The topic is Feelings)

These people made a monster out of a potato. I think the Potato Pals are much cuter. Don't you? What did they use to make the monster?
(This was a community art project in Virginia, USA)

This is my son Kai with Joy! You can make one too. Just draw a Pal on some card and cut out holes for your fingers. Kai has put some red stickers on his fingers like shoes!
(Photocopying the Pals onto paper and then sticking it to card makes it quicker but not so much fun!)

This was the winning picture in the Potato Pals Art Contest 2007. It's by a boy called Yuuki. If you want, you can do a picture and send it to me. I am waiting! I like pictures of Potato Pals doing fun things. Why not draw a picture of YOU with your favourite Pal?
(please send all pictures to me, Patrick Jackson at this address: A207 Sun Heights, Yagoto Fujimi 1611, Showa Ward, Nagoya, Japan 466-0812 or as scanned images to patjack67@hotmail.com)

Look at these funny erasers from Japan. They look like potatoes! Cool! I wonder do they have carrots too...or onions. What are your favourite vegetables?

This is the flag of New Zealand. do you know where that is? Can you find it on your map. Many thanks to Janine, who with a little help from her Maori teacher, sent this fine translation of Good Friends

Good friends talk to each other

- Ka korero nga hoa pai

Good friends listen to each other

- Ka whakarongo nga hoa pai

Good friends play together

- Ka takaro nga hoa pai

Good friends lend things

- Ka tuku nga hoa pai

Good friends share things

- Ka tuari nga hoa pai

Good friends help each other

- Ka tautoko nga hoa pai

Good friends give presents

- Ka tuku taonga nga hoa pai

Good friends care

- Ka tiaki nga hoa pai

Joy is a very happy potato. She loves to skip. She wants to know how many times you can skip. Can you do some skipping tricks? Wow!
(Joy is the favorite of Potato Pals editor Joe McGasco! He's a good guy!)

Nina is a friendly potato. She likes to go shopping. Look at her handbag. It was a present from Chip.
(Nina does rather too much shopping and sometimes finds it hard to pay her credit card bill...ooops!)

Dean reads all the time! He is so clever and loves studying. He always does his homework. Do you?
(Actually Dean should get out more! He needs to spend some more time relaxing and having fun!)

Say 'Hello!' to Chip. He is a very cool potato! Chip plays the violin really well. Do you like music. Maybe Chip will play for you!
(Chip has a big following in Japan. People think he is the most handsome Potato Pal. What do you think?)

This is Daisy. She has a flower. Daisy is very cute and has lots of friends. Who is your friend? Is it Daisy?
(Daisy was the winner of the Potato Pals Popularity contest. Someone voted for her 1000 times!)

This is Buddy. He likes soccer. Can you play soccer too? Hi Buddy! That's a nice cap! Come to my house some time. We can play together. You can see Buddy and his family 'At the Zoo'.

(Buddy is the star of In the Morning and At the Zoo from Potato Pals. he is the sporty one! He only has one hair under that cap. Check out the barber's face in 'In Town')