Speaking of Children . . . Bilingually : Radio: The creator of ‘Crackle,’ a Korean-English program produced in La Habra for kids, has his sights set on the markets--and languages--of the world.

On a recent school day, a classroom full of energetic 9-and 10-year-old children screamed, read stories, acted out roles as newscasters and enthusiastically sang on and off cue.

The Wilton Elementary School students from Koreatown were learning communication skills. They were also taking part in an unrehearsed performance that was being taped for “Crackle--The Justin and Jaime Show,” a children’s radio program produced by and starring La Habra resident Justin Mowbray, 42.

On Sunday, the Korean-and-English-language program premiered on stations in New York, New Jersey and San Francisco--the same day it concluded a six-month run on Los Angeles radio station KFOX-FM (93.5), also known as FM Seoul.

The show is centered around a chimpanzee named Jaime. Each week, Justin, who is Jaime’s best friend, and a group of children invite Jaime into the radio station’s studio, even though the chimp ostensibly is not allowed to be there. Jaime, whose high-pitched squeals help Justin deliver morality messages throughout the one-hour program, is constantly being hounded by the station manager.

“No animals allowed in here!” the manager yells sternly in Korean while kids scramble to warn Jaime. “Run, Jaime, run!” they screech.

Between pursuits, all sorts of lessons on bugs and animals are disseminated through original songs written by Mowbray. In addition, the children tell stories they wrote in class. Subjects range from cars to dreams and are recited complete with sound effects.

The program ends with such bits of advice as “Don’t drink,” “Don’t smoke,” “Don’t do drugs,” “Help poor people,” “Be kind to animals” and “Tell your parents you love them.”

One of the final episodes to air locally concluded with a few words from Hannah Lee, a first-grader from White House Place Elementary School, also in L.A.

“Hi, I’m Hannah,” the girl said in Korean, then in English. “I’m 6 years old. Everybody out there: Don’t fight. Give food to animals and listen to your mom and dad and God and Jesus.”

The program is put together at Mowbray’s Rascal Productions studio in his La Habra home. He produces it on a limited budget with help from a handful of volunteers. Rascal will be paid $150 for each show run in the San Francisco and New York/New Jersey markets. The company received no money for the 26 episodes that FM Seoul aired as part of its public-service programming.

Mowbray said he hopes FM Seoul or another Southland Korean-language radio station will begin airing the program again next month. First, he needs to line up sponsors for the show. “That won’t take more than a few weeks, and we’ll be back on the air again soon,” Mowbray said.

Meanwhile, “Crackle” gains a potential audience of 120,000 Radio Seoul 1400 AM listeners in San Francisco and more than 300,000 for Radio Korea 1480 AM in New Jersey and New York. Mowbray’s long-range plan is to do similar shows for Spanish- and Chinese-speaking audiences.

“We’ve been getting very favorable response from parents,” said Julie Pyun, director of promotions at Radio Korea in New York. “We have a six-month contract with Rascal Productions and will most likely extend it because ‘Crackle’ is an educational program for our second-generation Korean children who can learn Korean while their parents listen and learn English. We wanted a show like this for parents and kids to spend quality time together.”

Koo Oh, president of the Korean American Assn. of Orange County, said he hopes the show will return to the Southern California airwaves so he can listen to it with his 4-year-old daughter.

“The program is badly needed,” he said. “It teaches the children Korean and (instills) pride in our culture.”

That’s what Mowbray said he is trying to do. “Crackle” is the first radio venture for Mowbray, who got a master’s degree in music composition from New York’s Juilliard School of Music in 1978. He has won numerous awards for commercials he created.

“This show gives me a chance to develop a dream--to see children around the world learn about their cultures and believe in themselves,” said Mowbray, who takes factory work and maintenance jobs to help fund his radio venture. “Next is Spanish, then Chinese, and I want to go globally with it.”

Teachers and principals at the schools Mowbray visits to record the children’s voices say the experience has turned some shy and underachieving students into kids who aren’t afraid to express themselves through speech and writing. Some even begin to excel in their studies.

“They have been motivated to write more,” Wilton teacher Cynthia Dolce said. “Since Justin started coming here, the self-esteem and enthusiasm level of the whole class has shot up incredibly.”

Kenneth Cunningham, 8, one of the students in Dolce’s class, said he never misses the “Crackle” show and adds that he is picking up a few Korean words to use in class with his Korean American classmates.

“This radio program is very educational and lots of fun,” Kenneth said. “I always want to hear my voice on the show, so I try to write great stories so I can read them.”

His classmate, Jennifer Gonzalez, 9, added: “I think the show is trying to teach all kids lots of things, but most of all it’s trying to teach us to get along with everybody, everywhere.”