The month of December simply sparkles with family oriented activities. Be sure to grab your calendar and save the date for this outstanding line-up.
AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is brimming with fun-filled entertainment and activities that are prefect for families.
Below is a list of upcoming events that are sure to please.
Talking About Words and Pictures
with author, illustrator, musician, Barney Saltzberg
Sunday,
December 4, 2011
11:30 am - In the Auditorium
Doors open for this event at 11:00 am
Museum opens at 12:00 pm
Free; Museum Admission extra
Join The Carle’s bookseller, blogger, and book-lover, Andy Laties as he engages
Barney Saltzberg in a conversation about his career and his books.
Book signing to follow.
OOPS…From Blunder to Wonder
A Magical Musical and Visual Journey with Barney Saltzberg
Sunday,
December 4, 2011
1:00 pm - In the Auditorium
Free with Museum Admission
Join Barney as he takes you on a magical journey through words pictures, and song. Learn about the creative force behind the bestselling
Peekaboo Kisses,
Good Egg, and
Beautiful Oops!, his latest one-of-a-kind interactive book that shows young readers how every mistake is an opportunity to make something beautiful.
Book signing to follow
Handmade Cards and Books
Thursday, December 8, 2011
1:00 - 5:00 pm - In the Art Studio
$50 (Members $45)
Ages 16 and up
With the holidays just around the corner, learn how to create handmade cards and unique books for those friends and family on your gift list. We’ll cover our favorite bookmaking techniques for teachers, librarians and parents to adapt to your classroom, library or home. You’ll go home with a collection of small handmade books and the techniques to create them again and again.
Instructor: Diana MacKenzie
Registration is required. Please click here for information on how to register.
An Evening with Jules and Kate Feiffer
Thursday, December 8, 2011
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm - In the Auditorium
Free
Pulitzer Prize-winning father and acclaimed children’s book author,
Jules Feiffer and his daughter,
Kate Feiffer have collaborated on a number of books. Whether seizing a moment in history or paying homage to a parent/child memory, this team is one you will not want to miss.
Bound by love, respect and good humor Jules and Kate will share tales of their collaborations and thoughts on their craft in a presentation designed to entertain and inform all who attend.
Book signing to follow
The Best of the Best in 2011 with Susan Bloom
Saturday,
December 10, 2011
1:00 pm - In the Auditorium
Free with Museum Admission
This highly popular annual event is in anticipation of the 2012 Caldecott Medal, which is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children for the preceding year.
Susan Bloom selects her favorites. Learn from this outstanding professor of Children’s Literature and reviewer for
The Horn Book what makes these books rise above the rest.
Special Storytime with Micha Archer
December 10, 2011
2:00 pm - In the Reading Library
Free with Museum Admission
As an artist,
Micha Archer has been inspired by her travels around the globe and the challenge of making pictures that are both beautiful and informative. Join her for a Special Storytime in the Reading Library where she’ll read from her newest book and talk about her process as an artist.
Book signing to follow.
December 18, 2011
2:00 pm - In the Reading Library
Free with Museum Admission
Join first-time author
Rand Burkert (illustrator’s son) and Caldecott Honoree,
Nancy Ekholm Burkert as they share the story behind their first collaboration,
Mouse and Lion. After talking about the inspiration and process behind the extraordinary art created for the retelling of one of Aesop’s most well-known fables, Rand will perform a selection of original songs and music inspired by the tales of Aesop and drawn from an album he recently produced. This is a program featuring wonderful music and great art to be enjoyed by all.
Book signing to follow.
CactusHead Puppets Presents The Just So Stories
December 27 and December 28, 2011
2:00 pm - In the Auditorium
$5 (Members $4.50)
The Cactus Head Puppets present three stories of mischief and magic that tell how some of your favorite animals came to be, in charming and silly adaptations of
How the Camel Got His Hump,
How the Rhino Got His Skin and
The Beginning of the Armadillos.
Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Museum Admissions Desk or by calling (413) 658-1126.
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
125 West Bay Road | Amherst, MA 01002 | Phone: (413) 658-1100
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
BOSTON CIVIC SYMPHONY PRESENTS A FAMILY HOLIDAY POPS
Holiday favorites, a sing along, and a visit from Santa - the
Boston Civic Symphony’s Family Holiday Pops has it all.
This year’s concert will take place on Saturday, December 17, 2:00 pm at the
Fine Arts Center, Regis College in Weston.
Conductor Max Hobart and the orchestra will perform traditional holiday music featuring soprano
Deborah Selig as soloist.
A special treat this year will be the performance of seven year old Sophie Burns, who will sing “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth,” composed by her great-grandfather
Donald “Pops” Gardner.
Children will have the opportunity to come onstage to sing to Santa and to conduct the orchestra.
There’s free parking at Regis College and free refreshments provided
Tickets go fast on this concert, and were sold out last year.
Tickets are $20.00 for adults and $10.00 for children, and may be purchased online through the orchestra’s web site at
http://www.bostoncivicsymphony.org/ or by calling 1-800-595-4TIX.
For more information, please call 1-617-923-6333.
HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK CITY, WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT & WEST NYACK, NEW YORK
Mama Doni &The Mama Doni Band Bring National Tour to the Tri-State Area with ‘CHANUKAH FEVER’
Hot on the heels of a tremendously successful summer tour,
the fall/winter Mama Doni National Tour
has begun.
Mama Doni and The Mama Doni Band are highlighting the Chanukah season with four special
“Chanukah Fever” shows in the NYC tri-state region from December 11 – 18.
Families can join in Mama Doni’s high-energy pre-Chanukah festivities at concerts in Manhattan
and West Nyack
, NY.
There will also be shows in West Hartford, CT and Hoboken, NJ. Performance details are below.
Doni Zasloff Thomas, a.k.a. Mama Doni
, is the lead singer/songwriter of The Mama Doni Band
, honored with a 2011 Parents’ Choice® Award
for their recent release,
Shabbat Shaboom, and
winner of the Simcha Award for “Inspiring Joy Through Music” in competition with more than 100 bands from 15 different countries at the 2008 International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam.
The band celebrates Jewish culture with irrepressible zest in its interactive family rock concerts filled with catchy pop songs that break the mold of traditional Jewish music. Quirky, offbeat, and unpredictable, The Mama Doni Band offers up a contagious and unexpected blend of reggae, rock, disco, Latin, klezmer and “Jewgrass” – all woven together with a hip Jewish sensibility.
Mama Doni promises plenty of surprises throughout this year’s Chanukah concerts, including giveaways of chocolate gelt, Mama Doni CDs, posters and free downloads of Mama Doni songs to everyone in attendance.
According to Carrie Stetler in The Star-Ledger, Doni Zasloff Thomas “
is proud to have a schtick. And that schtick, she says, is to ‘Jewify’ all forms of music – from country to reggae to holiday songs.” The Miami Herald enthused,
“Not since Woody Allen's Radio Days has American Jewish youth culture been celebrated with such a sublime mix of silly and substantive.”
Kids will boogie like a dreidel, air guitar with the band (“Latke Man” style), join in an applesauce vs. sour cream rock-along, and chime in on the eternal question of "Chanukah" or "Hanukah.” Rocking out for Chanukah, Mama Doni & The Mama Doni Band will perform such
“latkelicious” songs as "The Funky Gold Menorah,” "La Vida Dreidel,” and "I Say Chanukah (You Say Hanukah!).” The band will go all out with a wild bluegrass version of “Honey, This Ain’t Money” (about Chanukah gelt), and, as a special treat, several new songs will be showcased, including the soon-to-be-famous “The Land of Sufganiyot” (a reggae song about jelly doughnuts).
Parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles should join in the fun and come prepared to get up and dance at these spirited Jewish rock concerts that guarantee that Chanukah will never be the same.
CHANUKAH FEVER! WITH MAMA DONI & THE MAMA DONI BAND
WHEN: Sunday, December 11, 4:00 p.m.
WHERE: JCC Rockland, 450 West Nyack Rd., West Nyack, NY 10994
TICKETS: In advance: $8 members, $12 non-members; at the door: $10 members, $15.00 non-members.
INFO: 845-362-4400.
http://www.jccyofrockland.org/
WHEN: Saturday, December 17, 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Mandell JCC, 335 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117
TICKETS: In advance: $10 members, $12 non-members; at the door: $12 members, $15 non-members.
INFO: 860-231-6316 .
http://www.mandelljcc.org/
WHEN: Sunday, December 18, 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: Kaplan Cooperative Preschool at United Synagogue of Hoboken, 115 Park Ave., Hoboken, NJ 07030
TICKETS: Synagogue members $10. Non-members $18. Kaplan preschool students, free.
INFO: 201-222-9696.
http://www.hobokensynagogue.org/
WHEN: Sunday, December 18, 3:00 p.m.
WHERE: 92nd Street Y, Bronfman Center for Jewish Life,
Buttenwieser Hall,1395 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10128
TICKETS: $15
INFO: 212-415-5500.
http://www.92y.org
MORE IN NEW YORK CITY
Symphony Space, the Upper West Side cultural mecca with its
Just Kidding series, offers some wonderful family-centric events this month
- everything from d
iscovering Chris Van Allsburg's new book, and enjoying captivating American folk music with Elizabeth Mitchell and friends, to joining in on the New Year's Eve countdown till noon with Tim & the Space Cadets. Take a look at these fun offerings below.
Thalia Kids' Book Club: Chris Van Allsburg with Jon Scieszka
Sunday, December 4, 1 pm
Tickets are going fast for this latest event in the highly interactive author series for kids ages 8 to 12.
Chris Van Allsburg, the winner of two Caldecott Medals, for
Jumanji and
The Polar Express, talks about his acclaimed new short story collection
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, in which skilled storytellers such as Kate DiCamillo, Stephen King and Sherman Alexie spin imaginative tales inspired by the original illustrations from Van Allsburg’s 1984 wordless classic,
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.
Top author and Harris Burdick story contributor Jon Scieszka joins the conversation and performs his story "Under the Rug."
Tickets: $15
Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower with Special Guests
Saturday, December 17
11 am
Smithsonian Folkways artist Elizabeth Mitchell's gentle, heartfelt music transfixes audiences of all ages with homespun renditions of great songs by Woody Guthrie, Bob Marley, The Velvet Underground, Vashti Bunyan, Gillian Welch and more. The quiet sweetness and intimacy of her concerts cement her as an icon whose music will be remembered for years to come. Dan Zanes says, “This is the family music that I love---soulful, mysterious, inclusive and rollicking!"
For this holiday time performance, Elizabeth and her family band (husband Daniel Littleton and daughter Storey) will be joined by some very special musical guests.
Ticket holders will also be eligible to enter a raffle for a child-sized ukulele and other great prizes.
Tickets: $13 to 20
December 17th is the Just Kidding Members' Holiday Party!
Join other Symphony Space Family Members for cookie decorating after the Elizabeth Mitchell show. Call 212.864.1414 x223 to become a member and RSVP for the party.
A New Year's Eve 'Countdown to Noon' Family Concert with Tim & the Space Cadets
Saturday, December 31,
11 am
Celebrate New Year’s Eve with
Tim & the Space Cadets, a dynamic family-friendly NYC based pop rock band. It' will be an end-of-year party the whole family will remember.
Tim’s songs exist somewhere in the realm between Raffi and Blink-182, inspired by memories of school days, snow days, pizza parties and summer vacations. Their song “Superhero” enjoys frequent spins on Sirius-XM’s Kids Place Live.
Kids are invited to bring party hats and tooting horns to help ring in the New Year.
Tickets: $13 to $20
Symphony Space is located at 2537 Broadway (at 95th Street) in New York City.
For ticket information, contact the box office at (212) 864-5400 or boxoffice@symphonyspace.org
SAN FRANCISCO & CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA
Peter and the Wolf
Conductor/Performers
Donato Cabrera
conductor
Chita Rivera
narrator
San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra
Delight your children with the annual presentation of
Peter and the Wolf including festive holiday songs- perfect for music lovers of all ages. The legendary Chita Rivera joins the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra as special guest narrator for this charming tale. You'll also enjoy classics from
The Nutcracker and more!
Program
Tchaikovsky
Russian Dance from The Nutcracker
Prokofiev
Music from Romeo and Juliet
Liadov
The Music Box
Dvořák
Slavonic Dance No. 2 in E minor
Falla
Final Dance from The Three-Cornered Hat
J. Strauss, Sr.
Radetzky March
Prokofiev
Peter and the Wolf
Trad.
Carol Sing-Along
Please note this is a kid-sized concert with no intermission. Half price for ages 17 and under.
Sat, Dec 10, 2011 4:00pm
Davies Symphony Hall
$15 to $57
For further information or to purchase tickets: http://www.sfsymphony.org/season/Event.aspx?eventid=50242
