Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Podcasts Galore


I've been working hard on my new podcast for librarians, called "The Program Room." The first four episodes are up already. Some live conversations are scheduled, and other interviews are in the can, including one with Bill Harley, and another with Peter and Mary Alice Amidon. These programs are aimed at children's librarians, but really anybody involved with creativity and kids will get a lot out of them. You can check it out at TheProgramRoom.com, or search for it on iTunes.


Meanwhile, Lisa has posted not one, but TWO brand new Kids Music Planet podcast specials for Halloween! They each feature tons of fun songs to celebrate one of our favorite holidays! You can check them out at KidsMusicPlanet.blogspot.com, or search for them on iTunes.


Tuesday, October 28, 2008

It Could Have Been Worse

The new Scribblemonster CD is here! I just got to hear it the other day, and it's already one of my favorite CDs for families - very edgy and cool. Nobody comes up with concepts like Scribble Jim (I'm a Utility Pole, for example?!?!), and nobody beats the Scribblemonster band for tight rocking melodic arrangements. It's great, and I would definitely say that, even if my name wasn't on the back cover. 

Yes, I co-wrote one of the songs, track 7, "It Could Have Been Worse," with Scribble Jim himself. 

What was it like writing with the great scribbled one? Well, (you see this coming, don't you! Wait for it... Wait for it....) IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE! Actually, I learned a lot, and I think we are both quite proud of the song. Jim says that most of the songs on this CD either fall into the "kids like it" camp or the "parents like it" camp, but the one we wrote together falls into the "everybody likes it" category!

("Everybody likes it" is a category, not a camp - I just wanted to make sure you caught that; I'm not a big camper. See how just writing about it makes me silly?)

Anyhow, yes I never would have written the "snail" line in a song for myself, but something told me Jim would love it, and he did, and now I do too. That's what's super cool about co-writing. 

This is our second collaboration; in 2007 the Scribble Monster Band recorded backing tracks for my song, "Get a Clue," and it ROCKS! I sure hope we can work together some more in the future.

And, speaking of collaborations, I've been working closely with my friend, Mr. Billy (My other rocking collaborator on the Get a Clue CD). We are working on twelve new songs for the "Be Creative at Your Library" theme this summer. I'm beginning to get very excited about this project because the songs and recordings are coming along very nicely. More about this later, of course. Stay tuned!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Sunnybrook

On Wednesday I visited two 2nd grade classrooms in two different schools, both to honor summer readers (see the previous post). These photos are from Mrs. Frost's second grade class at Sunnybrook Christian School. As you can see, we had a great time!