New childrens albums

Elizabeth Mitchell and her family - Daniel Littleton and daughter Storey, are making their way across the country, entrancing audiences with the sweet and soulful new songs from their new CD Sunny Day. Smithsonian Folkways has posted some free songs and fun activities on their site, worth checking out on a rainy day. Whole Kids Lifestyle just posted some fabulous new photos of their show at Austin Kiddie Limits.

Jim Cosgrove has certainly gone Swimming in Noodles. It turns out that October is National Noodle Month, and Jim and his family are celebrating by making "Spaghetti and Goofballs" and other healthy treats at their home near Kansas City. Watch for a free song download on his site and at KCMetroMoms later this month. Jim and his family made the cover of Johnson County Lifestyle magazine this month!

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer are celebrating their 25th anniversary of making great family music with two big concerts and a new EP called Cathy and Marcy’s Triple Play. The recording features a brand new, rockin’ arrangement of their most-requested song, “Air Guitar,” plus two new and original songs: “B Is for Birthday” and “Better When We Sing It Together.” Cathy and Marcy’s Triple Play is available now from CDBaby.com and will be available soon from the music stores at Amazon.com and iTunes.

Jeremy Plays Guitar is joining forces with Oran Etkin for a Halloween Boo-Yah concert in Brooklyn that will benefit Kids Need a Melody, a nonprofit providing music and services to NYC kids in shelters. It's the first team-up for these two Brooklyn-based artists who both have new CDs this fall. Jeremy Zmuda's Use Your Words features songs that help kids express their needs in fun, entertaining and effective ways. Oran Etkin's Wake Up, Clarinet features jazzy songs that introduce young children to musical concepts. Oran is also performing a show this Sunday at McCabe's in Santa Monica, CA, his California debut. Both new CDs won Parents' Choice awards.

Family Performances
Justin Roberts is in the middle of his "Trick or Treat" Halloween tour, and Bill Harley reaches Colorado and Arizona next week, bringing his new songs and stories from The Best Candy in the Whole World to new audiences. Bill will be honored on October 17th by the Rhode Island Humanities Council with a Lifetime Achievement award, and on November 1st, he's publishing a new discussion-starter book called Between Home and School.

Symphony Space just launched its Just Kidding series, and its weekly Saturday performances will continue until next May. Check out this month's shows with Secret Agent 23 Skidoo and Circurious. Elizabeth Mitchell, Justin Roberts, the Sugar Free Allstars and Rocknoceros are all part of this exciting family-centric series. Check out this Zooglobble interview with the curator of the series, Darren Critz to learn what it takes to put this fabulous series together.

Awards - Finding the Best of 2010
Looking for more new family music ideas? Parents' Choice just announced their Fall 2010 Audio Awards, and the results reflect the wealth of styles and diversity in the genre today. Several of our clients received awards: Justin Roberts, Oran Etkin, Hap Palmer, The Okee Dokee Brothers, Debbie and Friends, Jim Cosgrove, Uncle Rock and Jeremy Zmuda. On November 1st, the National Parenting Publications (NAPPA) will post their award picks for this year's best music.

Awards and reviews are a great place to look for the best of 2010. As the holiday season approaches, new CDs are a great and lasting gift idea for kids of all ages. For fantastic animated stories-on-DVD, the Scholastic Storybook Treasures series is still one of the most-awarded and acclaimed series available. This fall, look for two new gift sets: The Treasury of 100 Storybook Classics 2 and a 3-pack of sign language DVDs featuring classic stories like Goodnight Moon, Corduroy and Five Little Monkeys.