Video Spotlight – “Looking Out My Window”
Set to be released this Friday, October 18, children’s indie folk band Little Coyotes’ debut album Songs to Howl & Sing is a real delight. The ten tracks in this collection are a love letter to the outdoors that celebrates many of the facets of nature, while also conveying messages of positivity and empowerment for young listeners. Whether learning about the national parks, shapes, sunny or rainy days, or the power of vowels, children will be enchanted by the lyrical prose found in each of the musical phrases.
The first video to accompany Songs to Howl & Sing is “Looking Out My Window.” The video follows a car as it travels across hills and valleys and passes flowers and horses. The soft color palette of the animation lends a certain whimsy to the light, airy vocals of lead singer/songwriter Becca Mohler, evoking those long, hazy days of family road trips where sometimes the best view is from the backseat, “looking out my window.”
For children and adults, having to do things on our own may be scary, but many times that is the only way for us grow and progress. For emerging children’s artist Katie T (Kansas’s Katie Todd), this is a very personal message. With over a decade of experience teaching music to elementary school children, Katie is now taking the plunge and releasing her own music. “Chickadee” is her first single and a real delight. On the surface, the tune is a simple, jaunty song about a bird that contains repeating lyrics and action movements that would work well in storytime, but when you listen a little closer you realize that there is an important message about perseverance and how special it is to encourage one another on to success.
According to Katie, the inspiration for “Chickadee” came from a conversation that she had with her dad earlier this year. Seeing her feeling discouraged, he told her about a chick coming out of its shell and how it needed to break out all on its own in order to survive in the wild. With that story as the basis for her new song, Katie went on to pen a tune that she hopes reminds listeners that, “We have to do hard things and sometimes that means taking a break, taking a breath, and when WE are READY (not anyone else’s expectations) we can step up and try again and listen to the encouragement of those around us to make it through.” Just like that chickadee, Katie T has broken out of her shell with this single. I look forward to hearing more from this new voice in children’s music.
To celebrate CMN coming to Chicago, I thought now would be a good time to highlight two albums from the Windy City’s children’s music community. First up is 
The second album is 
Our first album today comes all the way from New Zealand. 
Next up is 
The final album is 
First up is 
Next up is Pam Felber of 
Now let’s turn the spotlight on 
And finally, the perfect album with which to end the day, 
Let’s kick things off with 
Next up, 
Finally, nobody rocks quite like 
Almost two weeks ago, my family (my sister, her husband, our 84 year old dad, and I) embarked on a road trip to South Dakota. None of us had been to the western side of the state before so we were all very excited. We saw all the sights along the way – the world’s largest truck stop in Iowa, the Corn Palace, Wall Drug, Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Monument, the Black Hills and the Badlands. We also made a brief stop in Deadwood and checked out two amazing sights, Bear Country, USA and Reptile Gardens which were tucked in amongst some kitschy places but were really incredible. From the time we set off on our trip, my dad said there was only one thing he wanted to buy while we were gone – an authentic cowboy hat. As you can see, his wish was granted on the second day of the trip and he definitely got his money’s worth out of it while we were gone.
We made the 14 hour trip to and from Rapid City, South Dakota over the course of two days each way, making 
My love of languages began when I was a child; probably around the time I was in grade school, and we learned “Are You Sleeping?” in English, French, and German. My interest in French only deepened when I found this book, Fun with French, at the public library. I checked it out so many times I’m surprised they didn’t gift it to me when I graduated. My dad spoke Spanish fluently, but I studied Latin and French in high school and when I went to college, ended up getting a degree in French. Even though many years have gone by, my interest in languages has never waned. I’ve taken conversational Spanish classes specific to work in the library, and quite a while ago, even took a Russian class at the community college, just for the fun of it. While my French and Spanish skills have greatly diminished due to lack of use, it is when I hear music in those languages that I seem to recall the most. Words and phrases come back to me, dancing through my mind along with whatever melody accompanies them.
The first album up is Au Zoo (At the Zoo) – French Learning Songs from 
Last, but certainly not least, on today’s playlist is the first full-length Spanish language album from 