Ellis Paul "The Dragonfly Races"

Ellis Paul's first foray into the ever-expanding world of children's music may not end up being the coolest kid's record to be released in 2008 but it damn well might, by the time voting closes on the 2008 Fids and Kamily music poll, end up being considered the prettiest.

Mr. Paul, a long-time veteran of the Boston music scene, applies his passionate, socially-aware and highly literate brand of folk rock to the 13 tracks on the immaculately conceived Dragonfly Races. From the gorgeous 24 pages of album art (also the handy-work of the talented Ellis Paul) to the insightful and thought-provoking lyrical content - this entire record is a masterwork.

"The Dragonfly Races" contains what will easily be one of my top songs of 2008 in "Road Trip". This track, about the simple beauty of packing up the family into the car and traveling across this great country, features one of the most lyrically beautiful and instantly memorable musical phrases in recent memory when Ellis sings "...the miles on the dash are doing back flips." One could picture Ellis watching the odometer turn and turn while on tour, imagining the digits in a gymnastic routine. The line is sung with such grace and joy, it makes me happy every single time it comes through the speakers.
Watch him perform "Road Trip" live on a TV program.

Everything about this disc such screams beauty. I am pleased to have this in my collection and cannot possibly recommend it enough to each of you reading Out With The Kids right now.

Buy it right now, directly from the artist. You will not be disappointed, I promise.

...and if you are lucky enough to live in Philly, Boston, D.C. or Sacramento - get out and see Ellis perform special family shows in the 1st half of 2008.

The First Sleepover

My two nine year old nieces are over this evening, marking the Bear's first sleepover in our home.

They ate pizza, watched Singing in the Rain (for the first time), read a ton of books and generally enjoyed each other's company. Was a fine Friday evening (save for my MSU Spartans dropping the Champs Sports Bowl by 3 pts - ugh, 5 turnovers!!!)

Good Night all...tomorrow brings a review of what, in all likelihood, will be a top 10 kid's record of 2008.

It is 11:30 PM Eastern Time and the girls are still awake...Dad is tired...must.go.to.sleep.

He Came With The Couch

Got some Barnes & Noble, Border's or Amazon.com gift cards burning a hole in your wallet (or digital purse)? Consider acquiring the adorable He Came With The Couch by David Slonim. He Came With The Couch is an offbeat story of a family's new couch and the unexpected appendage that came along with it. The family goes to great lengths to "cure" what ails it's newest member and is, in the end, repaid ten-fold. The tale is a gentle lesson in acceptance surrounded by several doses of hilarity. Your toddlers and preschoolers will love this quirky book and it's top notch illustrations.

Christmas Morning

Santa was kind to the Bear this year. Her list comprised of the following five things:

• Car Pillow (for her to rest during road trips)
• Books
• Paints
• Long Sleeve Leotard
• Nightgown

The elves were able to, luckily, construct a suitable car pillow. There was a bit of doubt about their ability to produce such a device, but those little guys managed a nice purple one that looks a lot like the one One Step Ahead sells.

Books were plentiful. New editions of some of her faves: Llama Llama Mad at Mama, Pecorino Plays Ball, Harold at the North Pole, Berenstein Bears Messy Room, Knuffle Bunny Too, and Laurie Keller's hilarious Open Wide Tooth School Inside among others.

The "big gift" was a Melissa & Doug art/chalkboard/dry erase easel and a lot of paints. It was all put together for her, next to the tree. Very nice touch by the big guy.

Two long sleeve leotards were opened and immediately put on, along with a new black tutu/skirt with silver glittery stars. This became the Christmas morning attire, complete with a sceptre in her stocking. She truly is a little Princess, there is no fighting it. As long as the word Disney is not planted in front of that word, I'm cool with it...'cause they don't own the Princess world dammit. In fact, the Mrs. and I were talking about starting our own line of Princess books and dolls to complete with those bastards.

She is really into "getting married". Her little stuffed Gustafer will serve as a silly J.O.P. and marry her and I (yeah, a little odd) before we dance around the house. Despite her girly tendencies, she flipped out when my mom gave her a Michigan State Spartans (daddy's team) kid's uniform, complete with helmet. She wore it immediately (over top the leotard that had been packed for the trip to Grandmom's) with pride, along side her boy cousins who got Eagles and Bengals NFL sets.

The sweetest thing about the whole day? The Bear wanted to help the Mouse open the first couple gifts on Christmas morn. I had to convince her to find some of her own packages to open and do so without discouraging the kindness and selflessness that she possesses. Amazingly beautiful to witness her love for her kid sis.

Christmas in my family is a slower affair than most. At my parent's house, we take turns opening and do our best to watch and enjoy other's gifts. This tradition has been made slightly more difficult by the presence of 7 children in the family now, ranging from age 7 months to 9 years but we still manage to pace ourselves and stretch out the Christmas experience for a good 5-6 hours. At my own house, we didn't even get to open everything, even after 4 hours (with a break for breakfast). We read 1/2 the books as she opened them (a habit of the Bear's that I adore) and played with a lot of the toys fresh out of the boxes.

All in all a nice day that went too fast.

In other, non-holiday news...

The Bear is being moved up to the next class at school. In 2008 she will start Pre-K. Exciting, because she will be in a room with kids that are older and can do a bit more, like write letters and such. Scary because she is not socially "there-yet". But, her teacher's thinks that at 3 3/4 years old she is already getting bored in her preschool classroom. Something that I predicted would happen eventually, over a year ago.

Merry/Happy/Hello

OWTK wishes you and your family and wonderful holiday season.

Out With The Kids will be back in the swing of things in the new year.

Until then...

Feed the World, Get Smarter

Sharpen your vocabulary (or be reminded just how dumb you are) over at FreeRice.com and help feed the hungry.

My vocab level is a surprising 31. Considering I never use words like vexatious when discussing TV ads and those never-ending 1/8 of-the-screen promos during the holiday programming on ABC Family, I am amazed by my performance in just a few quick moments... providing 350 grains of rice to the U.N. Yes, we turned off the football game yesterday to watch "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" and "A Year Without A Santa" being sure to switch the channel before the heavy-handed self-promos kicked into high gear along with numerous debt consolidation ads (who exactly is their target audience on a Sunday afternoon)

I sincerely hope your holiday season is going well. This being the Mouse's first Christmas, I was wishing things would be ideal but in fact they've been quite crappy (how about that vocabulary?) thanks to the ongoing home remodel work around our pad (that little 5 week job that started on Labor Day). We are at our wits-end.

Saturday's Gustafer Yellowgold show was terrific. Easily the best the band's played in the three shows we've seen. Morgan's stage presence is superb and his dialogue with the kids in the crowd is witty, slightly-sarcastic and proves to be just the right amount to set up the tunes and engage the youngsters. 2008 is shaping up to be rather exciting for Gustafer...I won't break any news until the band gives me the greenlight, but expect Gusty to be popping up in new places and media-types early next year.

Pictures of the show (and a video if I can figure that out) coming....

Tidbits shmidbits

No motivation to write anything. Blame it on the current hectic nature of my day job, the utterly frustrating home-construction work we have been having done since September which has my house cluttered to the point of near-personal emotional-breakdown and my efforts to beef up World's Fair, my t-shirt and gifts shop, in time for the holiday shopping season.

Here is what's goin' down in OWTK Land:

• Gustafer Yellowgold show at World Cafe Live in Philly this Saturday morning. Very excited to see Rachel and Morgan again and to hear the new tunes live.
• The Mrs. and I will be in NYC tonight for the play Things We Want. A much needed night out alone in the Big Apple.
• So many cool Art & Artist related books for infants, toddlers and young readers on the market today. I am still trying to finish up a review of some of the best. Hopefully this will be done by the weekend and you will still have some time to pick up one or two before Christmas...should you deem them interesting-sounding enough.
• Also in the pipeline is my review of D.C. in a Day. We had a great time and have some cool tips and tricks for visiting the homeless-capital of the country on a time crunch and a budget.
• The use of formula for the Mouse is going well. I am putting her to sleep a lot which is nice and she is sleeping well. The weight lifted from the Mrs. has, as I expected, increased her milk production. It's all good.
• We just got the official OWTK Christmas tree last night. Normally, if the house was not filled with crap, we would have been decorated and ready for Santa weeks ago. The Bear was giddy to finally secure the Douglas Fir and to have the house smellin' like the outdoors.

That's just about brings ya up to speed. Until next time...

Phineas McBoof - The Book!

A fairly sizable piece on spending a short weekend in D.C. is coming soon. In the meantime...remember my very favorable review of "The Ballad of Phineas McBoof" by Dr. Noize or the fact that I believe it to be a top 10 kid's record in 2007 (in the Fids and Kamily poll)? Well, I was cruising the web Friday night while I watch the Redskins v. Bears game in brilliant HD at my parent's house (we were supposed to head down to Philly for the Elvis Perkins show but we didn't - bummer) and figured I would pop in on Dr. Noize to see what's up. Turns out there is now a book version of Phineas! While I haven't seen or read the book, the sample pages look stunning. Check it out here.

*If you order it before 12/19 you can get it personalized, signed and delivered before Christmas. Stuff Phineas into a stocking this year!

Maggie and the Ferocious Beast DVDs

We recently received "Somewhere in Nowhere Land" and "Trick or Treat", the two new Maggie & the Ferocious Beast DVDs released in September, and they have, in very quick fashion, taken over my house. The Bear has fallen in love with the charismatic polka-dotted beast, Hamilton the debonair pig and the adorable and resourceful girl with her name on the marquee. The videos are long, about 90 minutes in length, but are broken into four convenient episodes, each of which contain 3 shows and last for a touch over 20 minutes. This organizational structure allows for easy TV time management and negotiation (we usually allow two episodes per viewing).

Not familiar with Maggie? Think Dora with more interesting sidekicks and without the whore-ish merchandise push, monotonous schtick and repetitive dialogue.

All-in-all, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast is a pretty perfect show with a friendly non-evasive tone, quirky/cool characters and cute, subtle story lines that show more than they tell which is quite refreshing. Maggie reminds me of Oswald in that it is a less frantic entertainment (compared to it's peers) - something I also appreciate greatly as we try to foster a mellow vibe in the OWTK chateau.

So it turns out Maggie, a five year old gal with a vivid imagination and smarts that aren't flaunted, is on Noggin/Nick Jr. - shows how much I know. We had no idea she even existed as we have never once turned to either of those channels (preferring ad-free DVDs like this instead).

The "Somewhere in Nowhere Land" DVD is as perfect a gift for any child already enamored with Maggie as it is for little tykes who, like us, have never heard of Maggie. The collection of 12 stories on "Somewhere in Nowhere Land" serves as an ideal introduction to the Maggie and the Ferocious Beast characters.

Official Site of Maggie and the Ferocious Beast

Maggie's home on Noggin.com

New Kids Music - Debi Derryberry "Very Derryberry"

Debi Derryberry delivers an undeniably pleasant collection of kiddie-rock tunes on her new disc "Very Derryberry", a 15 song effort that appears to be aimed at the toddler set but is absolutely perfect for the older-infant and pre-toddler age groups. Really though, the sugary-sweet tunes are able to be enjoyed by anyone with a cheeky sense of style and humor.

There are a few truly great kids songs on "Very Derryberry" such as "Lechita Chocolate" (Chocolate Milk), a rockin' version of "Skinnarmarink", and the lyrically clever and rather humorous "Frechle Face Freddie". The Bear was singing along with these cuts after just one listen - the music is that accessible and catchy. Debi's playful voice invokes an overwhelming sense of 1950's-styled innocence (heard especially on the track "Little Cabin in the Woods"). I envision the band in poodle-skirts playing soda fountain shoppes and ice cream parlours nationwide (now that would be a cool tour!)

Click here to sample each track from "Very Derryberry" and to buy the record directly from Debi

If your gang is familiar with Jimmy Neutron you may very well recognize Debi's unique vocal style, as she gives voice to the TV-boy genius. She also serves as the voice of Gnocchi the cat from the newish Curious George series on PBS, and Weenie from Oswald - as well as numerous other TV characters.

Debi Derryberry's Official Website

My Mommy's Tote

What little girl (or boy for that matter) doesn't love riffling through their momma's purse discovering loose change, lipstick and the tiny tot's holy grail - a big jangly set of keys! Now you can have an awesome little item for your kiddo that will allow them to play imaginatively while you can rest assured knowing that your cellphone won't go missing and your eyeliner won't end up as a toothpick in their mouth.

P.H. Hanson, the best selling author/creator of My Granny's Purse and My Grandpa's Briefcase has moved down the family tree with My Mommy's Tote just in time for Christmas.

This die-cut tote bag toy is made of a thick, tough material that should hold up for a fairly long time, even in the hand's of the most rambunctious of children. The Tote is full of goodies (along with simple text that illuminates a child's similarities and differences with their mother) that will delight most youngsters who typically perk up for the thrill of discovery. The Pear (instead of Apple) laptop is ingenious - the Bear was pretending to call up the Gustafer Yellowgold website (her favorite place on the web) as soon as she saw the faux-computer. The dry erase board half way through the Tote was a clever surprise and the eraser on the back of the marker worked perfectly without smearing or smudging.

My Mommy's Tote is a perfect example of creative leisure entertainment for the toddler (and younger) crowd. I highly recommend this wonderful book/toy.

Pick up My Mommy's Tote from Amazon for less than $13 and know that you have scored a super cool gift or stocking stuffer this holiday season.