Rug Rats

If that godawful stop-motion Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer movie from 1964 has coursed through your eyeballs a few too many times, consider taking the kids to see CactusHead Puppets, who present The Pied Piper of Hamelin for two days only at the Eric Carle Museum. The West Springfield-based company has put together a comedic, updated adaptation of the traditional folktale. Now, not only does the town find a musical solution to pest control, but the kids of Hamelin also teach the grown-ups a lesson about generosity. Dawww. See? Dancing rats have a moral compass, too.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin: Thursday and Friday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. $5 general; $4.50 members. The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, 125 West Bay Road, Amherst. (413) 559-6336, carlemuseum.org.

— Hunter Styles