Sweetpea Sue, Squacky, CowBella and Apollo are coming to town.

“Jim Henson’s Pajanimals” will appear live on stage at the Mall at Stonecrest on Aug. 4 during the CrossRoadsNews 2012 Family & Back-to-School Expo.

The colorful puppets will appear in half-hour shows at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on the Main Stage in front of Sears. Parents should bring their cameras to capture the fun.

The annual expo takes place from noon to 5 p.m. on the lower level and includes performances, healthy food demos, free health screenings and immunizations.

The Pajanimals’ imaginary bedtime journeys resolve challenges like brushing teeth, friendship and sharing, typically encountered during every preschooler’s day.

“Pajanimals” debuted as a full-length series in October 2011 on PBS Kids Sprout and also appears on NBC Kids! It is co-produced by Sprout, the Jim Henson Co., and Northern Ireland’s Sixteen South Television.

The show features:

Sweetpea Sue, a pink and orange pony with a Southern accent. She makes sure she brushes her big bucked teeth and washes her hooves before she goes to sleep each night.

Squacky, a very excitable blue and yellow duck. He loves to play practical jokes and to read.

CowBella, a pink, purple and white cow. She is well-mannered and very neat and organized. She loves elegance, loves to play dress-up and puts bows on her horns.

Apollo, a purple and lime green dog. He is the leader of the bunch and loves everything to do with space. He finds any excuse he can to avoid going to bed.

The show includes characters the Pajanimals turn to when they don’t know what to do, and there’s always something.

In one episode, Squacky doesn’t know what to snuggle with when his blankie is in the wash. In other episodes, CowBella is afraid to go to sleep because she’s afraid she’ll have a nightmare. Sweetpea Sue is worried that her birthday party won’t be a success. Apollo is disappointed that he keeps losing every race.

The Pajanimals were designed and built by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop from original concepts by Los Angeles-based toy and clothing designer and artist Jeff Muncy.

The Mall at Stonecrest is at I-20 and Turner Hill Road. For more information, call 404-284-1888.