Kids rock! There's no question about it. They are simply much cooler than you and I. Posterband is for those of us just trying to keep up with these mod toddlers and hip preschoolers. It's about promoting children's books, music, and other media that rock just as much as our kids do.
A murder mystery for the kids! It should come as no surprise that the diabolical Lemony Snicket is involved. The Composer Is Dead, but the inspector is on the case, interrogating the entire orchestra to get to the bottom of this hideous crime. For all its wicked humor (the composer is "decomposing"), this book has a lot to teach children about the workings of the orchestra. It comes with a wonderful narrated symphony recording of the story with music by Nathaniel Stookey. The old-timey illustrations by Carson Ellis are pitch-perfect as always (Carson Ellis is responsible for so much of the amazing artwork for The Decemberists).
It would be a crime not to share this with your kids.
For more on the book and to hear some of the music, check out the video below:
I posted a couple of weeks ago about Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine's amazing new record for kids. Robbert (aka: Robert Schneider of the Apples in Stereo) was kind enough to take time out from recording to answer a few questions from Posterband. Bubble Machine had no comment.
So when I first heard you were making a record for kids, I was really excited, but equally curious: what inspired you to bring your pure pop jams to the young people?
Little kids need good music more than anyone. Their developing ears cannot defend themselves against music of poor quality. I feel it's very important to do something special for kids. I put as much into the Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine CD as I do with any project. Music for kids is the ultimate form of psychedelic pop... You can include all of the fun and colorful and odd sounds as you want. In fact, it is your duty to put them in there. It's like making a colorful little clock or music box where all of the parts work together in a musical system. I tried to make each song a self-contained little box of toys and sound effects that kids will find fun to play with.
Are you a cool dad? Or a cooler uncle? An eternal child?
All of the above! I really do try to be a cool big brother to my little brothers, and a cool uncle to my nieces and nephew, and a good dad to my son Max, who is 8. I am not so much worried with being a cool dad, as just a good dad. I think being cool is both not really part of the "dad" job description, and also, there is no way my son is going to think I am cool as he grows up, no matter how hip I am. I recorded some of the tracks for my Robbert Bobbert album about 15 years ago when I was 21, and my brothers were little. I would give them cassettes of children's songs for their birthdays. Lately, I've written songs inspired by my son. The song "Gravity" was written for the science fair at my son's school. I did a physics presentation for 1st and 2nd graders, and had the kids sing and clap along.
My four year old loves the new Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine record, but he's also been known to rock out to his dad's Apples in Stereo records on occasion. There's a lot of great "grown-up" music out there for kids to explore. I'm curious what records (for kids or grown-ups) were important to you when you were a little one?
That is awesome that your kid loves pop music! I loved the Beach Boys and listened to Endless Summer over and over again when I was a kid. I also loved those little vinyl 45s for children, that came with storybooks, and always loved old kids records from the 1950's through the '70s. Their used to be so many great, creative, fun records for kids in the old days, before I was born. Those records for children had all sorts of fun sound effects, characteers and storytelling. I collect old vinyl children's LP's, and really wanted my Robbert Bobbert to have the same timeless, crazy, good-time feeling as those records.
By the way, the Beach Boys are still my favorite band. Also I love the Beatles, who are Max's favorite band. Actually, lately he has been really into "The Final Countdown" by Europe-- I bought him a 7" single of the song, for him to play on his turntable, so it is sort of the soundtrack around our house right now.
Thanks, Robbert!
Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine is out now from super-hip indie kid's label Little Monster Records.
You can check out more on Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine at www.robbertbobbert.com.
Pirate rock! Avast! Captain Bogg & Salty's Emphatical Piratical is a real treasure for the kids. There's lots to enjoy here - from silly sailor jigs like "Don't Drink the Sea Water" to surf-rock rave-ups like "The Plank-Walker." A couple tracks - like "Waltz of the Waves" and "Who's at Captain's Table" - even call to mind fellow nautically-disposed Portlanders, the Decemberists.
Check out this rocking clip of "Never Smile at a Crocodile."
These guys get the kids dancing! See for yourself - Captain Bogg & Salty set sail for Symphony Space this Saturday, March 28th, at 11:00am. For more information visit: www.symphonyspace.org/series/77 or visit the crew at www.eatalime.com.
There's not much to say about these board books. They are exactly what you would think. And they are hilarious. From those lovable, daffy folks at McSweeney's. Personally, I would love to see McSweeney's seriously explore its preschool tendencies. They could do some brilliant kids publishing if they set their mind to it.
Robert Schneider, the mad scientist behind the beloved Apples in Stereo, has released an amazing new record for kids under his cartoon alter ego: Robbert Bobbert. It's just good science, kids. Like the Apples in Stereo records, this one is jam-packed with hooks, harmony, and kaleidoscopic sound design. There are songs about clocks, physics, superheroes and a bunch of animals. Oh, and there is a mouse who raps which is reason enough to own this record. Awesome fun.
Check it out:
Robbert Bobbert and his Bubble Machine rocked Brooklyn's Bell House this weekend. Robbert brought the high-energy song and dance as well as some exceedingly curious (and hilarious) science. Bubble Machine brought the bubbles. The kids had a total blast and so did the parents. Check out photos below.
Andrew Bird performs a little music and magic with the puppets in this clip from Jack's Big Music Show.
Andrew has a great new record out. File this one under: "music for parents that kids will like too." Noble Beast has lots of whistling and looping violins. And it will do wonders for your child's vocabulary. Nomenclature! As a chorus!
Also, you should check out the earlier records if you haven't already. Armchair Apocrypha and The Mysterious Production of Eggs are both shiny gems and good places to start.
It should come as no surprise that I think librarians totally rock. I mean, did you see the FOOT show at the Windsor Terrace library? And I'm happy to see that folks like the New York Times are finally taking notice.
Anyway, this week's picture book suggestions come courtesy of the librarians. The ALA announced the 2009 Caldecott winners. You won't need any further recommendation from me. The House in the Dark, a beautiful book, took top honors, but congratulations to all! Shiny stickers all around.
My good friends at Whole World of Widgets developed this really cool animated video of Robot Garden, one of the Posterband picture books.
Whole World of Widgets is doing some really creative educational kids programming and they have a very interesting blog that covers kids media issues. Check out their site at www.WWWandME.tv. And you should totally be their friend on Facebook.
Just in time for that post-holiday toy hangover, David Shannon returns with a fantastic new book. Perhaps only an artist of David Shannon's freakish talent is up to the challenge of cataloguing the dizzying abundance of a modern kid's toy box. To look into that roiling cauldron of consumerism and not despair utterly, takes a brave, brave heart and a sense of humor born of peerless compassion. Which is to say, I'm feeling a little guilty about all the toys under the tree this year. But this book was one of best gifts. And Mr. Shannon deserves a special thank you note.
Maybe you have some toys to donate to a good cause?
This was a weird and amazing rock show that I just had to post about. FOOT performed some crazy psychedelic noise jams for the tots at the Windsor Terrace Library Toy Sale Saturday, Nov 22nd.
FOOT is Thurston Moore on guitar and effects, Don Fleming on guitar and synth, and Jim Dunbar on synth and electronics. Children read excerpts from picture books over the squall and eventually joined in bashing away on the instruments. Here's some photos and a little sample of the sounds created that day. My son JoJo is the one in the white shirt.
Throughout grade school and high school, all I wanted to be when I grew up was a cartoonist for the funny papers. I assumed there could be no greater glory than to have your art lining the bottom of birdcages or used as birthday wrapping. Which is to say, Berkeley Breathed was my idol. Years ago I came to my senses. About my career, not Mr. Breathed, who remains a hero. And I'm so happy he's making picture books for the little ones these days, because I want my kid to have the chance to know (and love) his cracked point of view.
Pete & Pickles is a charmer, though not without a few dark notes to give it an edge. Starring a widower pig (Pete) and an adventurous escaped circus elephant (Pickles), the book is filled with the antic exuberance and skidding non-sequiters that made Bloom County and its characters so memorable. And the art is super-plush and totally weird, racing through a catalog of famous artists and styles.
Check it out, and don't forget that Mars Needs Moms!
Oh, and it's almost Christmas. Opus & Bill make for a wacky noel in this great picture book and the animated TV special from back in the day.
So maybe your child isn't quite ready for Tarantula. This very hip picture book is perhaps the better place to start. You'll dig the retro illustrations, and you know the words by heart, right?
Check out this cool animated video of the song:
And if you want to spend some serious coin, rock-obsessed collectors can still pick up Dylan's 1999 picture book:
Ghosts in the House! is a terrific treat this Halloween for your little boys and ghouls. A very resourceful witch domesticates the ghosts haunting her house, using them as tablecloths, curtains and comfy blankets for a cool October night. The stylish artwork is as charming as a candy corn.
Melanie Hope Greenberg, author and illustrator of so many fantastic picture books, was kind enough to answer a few questions for Posterband. Check out more from Melanie at: www.melaniehopegreenberg.com
Your books have a distinctive style - colorful and crowded with appealing detail. Could you name some of your artistic influences? Both broadly and as well as for children?
I am admirer of most art. From the classics to the contemporary. For me art is about feeling and psychology. With adult art I enjoy mostly everything. If I do not like the art I still know that the artist poured their heart and soul into it, so I see it from that point of view too. Art is subjective.
In children’s books, I love the artists that take the time to portray a story thoughtfully with soul and sensitivity. Book art helps a child learn to read and also FEEL something through the mood and tone of the colors. I am not a big fan of trends. Originality is the job of an artist. I guess being self taught is why I have a distinctive art style.
Many of the books you have written or illustrated are set in New York. Is the city your biggest inspiration?
Dear Art Directors and Editors: please do not stereotype me as only urban, I can paint most any subject you need. That being said, I am a New York City native, originally from the Bronx, one year in Greenwich Village and 31 years in Brooklyn. Although I travel, nothing lives up to the energy and cultural diversity of New York City. I just received a letter from Mayor Bloomberg praising Mermaids On Parade as a part of New York City’s cultural legacy, so the mayor sensed my passion.
Another book I painted was A City Is, poems by Brooklyn’s first poet laureate, Norman Rosten. It took 14 years to get our collaboration published. I created many book prototypes in order to sell it. At first, I sketched cities around the USA. Eventually, the art became the reflected truth of Brooklyn native Rosten, as well as my own roots. I knew how to paint the our city’s moods and colors.
Coney Island where Mermaids on Parade is set is an icon of visual style. How did you approach this challenge as an artist?
Coney Island is an artist’s dreamscape. Surreal, child-like. flashing neon colors. Coney’s visual style reflects my own coming of age in the late 60’s, early 70’s. My heart is really into psychedelic art and music. Viewing ‘The Summer of Love’ exhibition at the Whitney Museum last year really helped me grasp the big influence that era had and still has on my innate art style. Coney's own history - from the 1800’s on - is also felt viscerally when you step foot in that neighborhood. A wild juxtaposition of old and new architecture. Truly diverse, which is Coney’s overall legacy in the tapestry of our country’s history.
Of the books where you have been both the author and illustrator (such as Mermaids On Parade), could you explain how these books generally originate? Do you typically have an artistic vision that inspires the story? Or do you begin with a story or theme?
Mermaids On Parade was an idea which grew out of community. In 2005, Brooklyn librarians Deloris McCullough and David Mowery told me what was missing on their bookshelf. About three months later, Tanya Rynd, who owns Superfine in Dumbo, Brooklyn invited me to join her performance art troupe, the Superfine Dinettes, and march in the upcoming Coney Island Mermaid Parade. I interviewed the Dinettes, asking them what the parade meant to them, why they marched. Then I experienced the parade first hand. The whole book was a synthesis of everyone’s good energy and ideas. I knew children would love the magic of the parade and costumes.
Your books seem to have a fairly elastic age-span. Do you have an ideal audience or age level in mind when creating for children?
I am lucky that my art has wide appeal. For children I try to be literal. (Although, A City Is is about silence and multi-dimensional consciousness!) For grown-up magazine art, I am more abstract and conceptual. My guess is that the art touches the spirit that exists in all age groups. Beauty contained in wonder, that child-eye vision.
Posterband covers music as well. We'd love to know some of your favorite music that inspires you creatively.
I am so lucky to have lived through the music renaissance of the 1960’s with the original musicians who started it. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Doors (lately I am obsessed with their music once again). Jim Morrison was a visionary who was a grand emoter and not afraid to be openly anti-war. For Mermaids On Parade, there were mostly local Brooklyn band influences. I played their CDs at least once daily during production. The old timey sound of the Jug Addicts, the Wiyos, Jan Bell and Alex Battles really brought up that Coney Island honky tonk spirit from its hey day. The Gaijins A Go-Go and Les Sans Culottes added some feminine mermaid energy and color. A lot of these local musicians also march as characters in the book.
What grows in a robot garden? What blooms beneath the circuit tree? This tale of electric flowers and robot vegetables will delight and surprise your toddlers as they grow and grow.
Scribble and Beep are the best of friends, but that may be the only thing on which they agree in this charming tale of a robot and a doodle sharing a play date. Scribble and Beep will promote healthy self-assertion in children while celebrating the beauty of friendship and individuality.
"World's most terrifying children's book" - New York Magazine. A young boy bravely struggles with bedtime as though cast adrift on scary seas. Illustrated in stark black and white images, and inspired by a popular sea ballad (by Slint!) Good Morning Captain inspires children to stare down some of the nightly shadows they might fear.
Kids are inherently cool. Despite what Pitchfork says, I was never that cool. Or I was never cooler than when I was a kid. David Martin Static is the lead guitarist for Posterband - a playlist of cool things for cool kids. David has written and designed several picture books for children. He has worked in book publishing for over a decade at Penguin, HarperCollins, Hachette, and now as a consultant to Fourth Story Media. He has been an editor and is currently a reviewer for the National Poetry Series. He is a member of SCBWI. David grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. He studied poetry and film in New Hampshire (at the alma mater of Dr. Seuss and Captain Kangaroo), and now he lives in Brooklyn with his wife, his son, and his crazy dog.
This very hip picture book is perhaps the better place to start. You'll dig the retro illustrations, and you know the words by heart, right? 
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