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Selected doin's of well-known MOTHER-types from around the world.
JOHN (SLIM GOODBODY) BURSTEIN

Twice a week children watching Captain Kangaroo's Wake-Up morning television program witness a song and dance routine that stresses the benefits of maintaining a healthy body and developing good eating habits. The performer of those skits is Slim Goodbody, one of the most active and effective health crusaders in America today.

Actor John Burstein created the Slim Goodbody character eight years ago, while working with youngsters at the Floating Hospital in New York. Dismayed by the fact that most children know nothing about how their bodies func tion—let alone about how to care for them properly—John began composing stories and songs to entertain and educate the youngest generation. Soon afterward he designed the unique "body suit" costume that has now become his trademark.

Slim has since starred in an eight-part award-winning public television series entitled The Inside Story— which has been seen by millions of youngsters—and produced numerous records and books instructing children in matters ranging from why they need to brush their teeth to how their hearts and blood circulatory systems operate.

Currently John is producing a children's stage presentation which he'll take on tour to major theaters and auditoriums across the country. The show will feature life-sized puppets, films, and the eventual triumph of Captain Slim Goodbody over the evil character, Sludge . . . who-given free reignwould despoil the universe with junk food and its wrappings.

Although John Burstein admits that Slim Goodbody was created as a vehicle by means of which the performer could demonstrate his many talents—composing, acting, writing, dancing, and gymnastics—John is also truly excited by the potential he sees in children, and is glad to be teaching them. Burstein hopes his positive adult role model (and his insistence that good nutrition can be fun) will prove to be of lifelong benefit to the youngsters he entertains.—CK.

HUGH BRANNUM

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