Friday, October 27, 2006

Halloween Madness


This month's podcast includes all five songs from my 1992 cassette, Halloween Madness. Evalyn helps me introduce the songs, "Weird Things Happen on Halloween Night," "There's a Vampire in My Basement," "To the Monsters in My Closet," "Skeleton Dance," and "Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet." Her artwork here was inspired by the songs.

Happy listening, and happy Halloween!

Listen to or download the new podcast: Halloween Madness
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Thursday, October 26, 2006

Red Ribbon Week


It's Red Ribbon Week!

I was at Glencoe Elementary today. The 6th grade girls came by after the program to get autographs, making me feel like a rock star. Some of them knew my songs from previous visits, or from my library shows, and I saw them back there during the show, singing along with "Lisa Lee Elizabeth" and having a good old time.

Yesterday I was in Locust Grove, at the Early Learning Center. I did two shows there, one for 1st and 2nd grade, and the other for PreK and Kindergarten. We had a lot of fun with songs like "Big Red Fire Truck" and "You're a Dinosaur" - those kids are so sweet, and great singers, too!

Tuesday I was at Mustang Trails, and I sang for two great groups. We brought volunteers on stage to add their reactions into my "Fifty Ways to Say No to Drugs" song. And of course the kids at all three schools were excited to hear and sing "Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet!"

Make healthy choices, everybody! Happy Red Ribbon Week, and happy Halloween!

Saturday, October 21, 2006

NAPPA and Parents' Choice Awards!


Howdy, people! Sorry for the long absence. I'm still alive! There is much to catch up on, but I'm going to try to spread it out, rather than cover everything in one post.

I'll start off tonight with the most exciting news I've got - My latest CD, Paws Claws Scales & Tales, has won two important awards!

The first is a NAPPA Honors Award. This is my second year in a row to receive one. Here is the fabulous quote they sent me: "Harper's songwriting skills take a backseat to no one, and these creative animal songs are a pleasure to the ear."

The winning products will be posted November first at the NAPPA website.

Paws Claws Scales & Tales has also won a Parents' Choice Recommended Award. This is my second Parent's Choice, too, although the first one (for Take Me to Your Library) was an Approved award, which means I've moved up a tier! My Parents' Choice review says, "Harper crafts songs for kids that are both witty and fun; imagine a kind of children's music Loudon Wainwright III, making a pet-themed album and you begin to get an idea of his songwriting skills."

The winning products are posted at the Parents' Choice website.

I'll also toss in a mention of a very positive review for Paws Claws Scales & Tales in the September issue of School Library Journal. They say, "Animal lovers will find much to enjoy on this fun album." Orders through Amazon.com, CDBaby, and several wholesalers specializing in sales to libraries have picked up since the review; hopefully the awards will beef up sales even more!

Finally, I did not win a Unisong People's Choice. I only mention it because in my previous post (way back in August!) I was asking fans to vote for me, so I thought you might like to know how that turned out. Many of you did vote, some of you even daily! I really really appreciate it and I wish I could say that thanks to you, I won, but instead I can say that thanks to you, I believed I had a chance, and that is just as good! So, thanks to you!