PICTURE BOOK - Stand Up and Sing: Pete Seeger, Folk Music, and the Path to Justice by Susanna Reich

Illustrated by Adam Gustavson

2017, Bloomsbury

HC $17.99

44 pgs.

Goodreads rating:4.28 - 58 ratings

My rating: 5

Endpapers: Solid dark Blue

1^st line/s:  (after a wonderful foreward by Peter Yarrow) "Pete Seeger plucks and strums the banjo.  His warm, high voice floats over the crowd.  Heads begin to bob and toes begin to tap."

My comments:  I've been a folk music follower since my early 20s and a Pete Seeger fan for a long, long time.  I was so thrilled to discover this text-rich biography of this banjo-playing activist, perfect for elementary kids, especially if they know or have heard of any of his music.  What a great gift for kids - a copy of this book and a cd with many of the songs that he is SO famous for - We Shall Overcome; Turn, Turn, Turn; If I Had a Hammer, Where Have All the Flowers Gone; and Little Boxes to name a few.  Reading this book in the same week that the craziness in Charlottesville happened is especially meaningful, as "We Shall Overcome" should still be sung at the top of our voices!

Goodreads:  Inspired by the rhythms of American folk music, this moving account of Pete Seeger's life celebrates his legacy, showing kids of every generation that no cause is too small and no obstacle too large if, together, you stand up and sing!
          Pete Seeger was born with music in his bones. Coming of age during the Great Depression, Pete saw poverty and adversity that would forever shape his worldview, but it wasn't until he received his first banjo that he found his way to change the world. It was plucking banjo strings and singing folk songs that showed Pete how music had the incredible power to bring people together.
          Using this gift throughout his life, Pete encouraged others to rally behind causes that mattered--fighting for Civil Rights, ending the Vietnam War, or cleaning up the Hudson River. For Pete, no challenge was too great, and what started out as a love for music turned into a lifetime of activism and change. His greatest talent--and greatest passion--would become an unforgettable part of American history.

The Marvelous Toy - Tom Paxton

Illustrated by Steve Cox
Includes a 4-song CD
Imagine! A Peter Yarrow Book
$17.95
24 pgs.
for: ages 3-5
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: a mesmerizing blue/aqua shooting-star filled sky

Magical. Every page is magical.

I've been a Tom Paxton fan for a zillion years. Seen him in concert four or five times. He's funny, clever, and quite politica (he doesn't miss anything)l. A very cool guy. And I've heard this song dozens of times - including live. So I sang along as I read. The book follows the words to the song, showing a father giving a cool new toy to a son...and ending with this same son, now grown, passing it along to his own son. The gorgeous bright-blue toned illustrations are a blast to ingest.

This is a yummy book - a great gift for a young child - with four Paxton songs included! ! !

(And I see that not only did Paxton get a Life Achievement Grammy this year, he has a new album (Comedians and Angels) out. Bravo, Tom Paxton!)

Sweet Life - Catie Curtis

Released Sept. 2008
Compass Records

Mmmmm, love Catie Curtis. Love her voice, love her lyrics. She's written most of the songs on this album herself. Really upbeat, from the the singable refrain of "Happy, to the honky tonk sound of "Lovely" to the wonderful "The Princess and the Mermaid", which is a celebration of relationships and family.

I can remember sitting in my dorm room at Barnard, a zillion summers ago (well, maybe 10 or 12), listening over and over to "Grandmother's Name", which is on her "From Years to Hours" album. (I've got my grandmother's name but she don't remember who I am.)

Catie writes in the liner notes for this latest album, "When I was 15 years old and living in Saco, Maine, I wanted to play guitar but didn't have one. Lynne Ramsdell, stage manager at a local theater, gave me an old Yamaha saying, 'You can have this if you promise me you'll learn to play it.' She left Saco shortly after that and I never got the chance to thank her for changing my life. I'd like to thank her now." I've listened to Catie Curtis for years and years, and never realized that she's a Mainer. And now I can totally SEE "River Winding", another of my very favorites, from her "Catie Curtis" album. (River winding, throught this milltown, my hometown is dark by four.......through the darkness, sometimes cursed and sometimes blessed.)

A great songwriter with a beautiful voice, I'd sure love to see her perform live someday.

Promised Land - Dar Williams

Released Sept. 2008
Razor & Tie

I can vividly remember the first time I heard Dar Williams. Steve and I were in Portland on a Sunday, and we went into Borders to the music department. I'm not sure we even had a Borders in Bangor yet. I put the bulky earphones on and listened to some of the sample tracks on "The Honesy Room". "Alleluia" blew me away. It's still one of my favorite songs by any artist.I bought the cd, even though we couldn't really afford such frivolities as music we weren't even sure we would like. Seems like a century ago.

I now own all Dar William's cds, have seen her perform (in Petersborough, NH, another vivid memory), and am so enjoying this newest release, her first studio album in three years or so. Each song in the liner notes is on a two-page spread that is illustrated by interesting contemporary artwork.

Every song that Dar sings makes me think. I really like "Troubled Times:" Maybe one day soon/It will all come out/How you dream about each other sometimes/With the memory of/How you once gave up/But you made it though the troubled times.
And Buzzer ... I'd love to know the story behind this song.

It's exciting to have some new Dar songs to learn, to hum, to sing, and to enjoy.