Twenty Bees Video Release!

Twenty Bees by Johnette Downing

During the pandemic, I created nearly a dozen animated music videos of my songs for virtual programs. I used some of them in my virtual programs, but some have never been released. Therefore, I have decided to release them once per month. The first one I released in May was “On the Farm” from my Parents’ Choice Recommended Award winning Wild and Woolly Wiggle Songs album.

This month, I am releasing “Twenty Bees” from my Silver Parents’ Choice Award winning album Boogie Woogie Bugs. I hope you enjoy this counting backwards by 1s, 2s, 4s, 5s, and 10s song. I learned from my friend Patsy Kanter, who developed the Everyday Counts curriculum, that children have difficulty counting backwards. Therefore, I decided to continue my trajectory of counting songs, but this song counts back from twenty, a higher number, not normally used in children’s music.

I illustrated the video with cut-paper collage to create depth, and my husband Scott Billington animated the video. It took dozens of frames to create the bee flying across the page at the end. Also at the end of the video, I include bee fun facts from the Bee Conservancy for educational purposes to help children help bees! I hope you have fun buzzing along!

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Jumpin' Jitters is a 2023 Family Choice Award Winner!!!

I just found out that my Jumpin’ Jitters, It’s Halloween album for children is a 2023 Family Choice Award winner! Thank you Family Choice Awards for this amazing honor! Here is the press release!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2023 FAMILY CHOICE AWARD WINNERS

Exceptional products that enrich a family’s lifestyle and create

memorable experiences.

Los Angeles, CA – Family Magazine Group is proud to announce the 28th annual Family Choice

Award Winners! As one the most coveted and family-friendly consumer award programs in the

nation; the Family Choice Awards recognize the finest products and services that enrich the

lifestyles of children and families.

Congratulations!

“Jumpin’ Jitters, It’s Halloween"

is a Winner of a 2023 Family Choice Award!

Here is the link to the winning product:

https://www.familychoiceawards.com/family-choice-awards-winners/jumpin-jitters-its-halloween/

The creativity and extraordinary imagination utilized to develop new products and enhance

existing products for the benefit of consumers, continues to amaze our distinguished judges and

staff. We want to express our gratitude to all the entrants for their sincere commitment in making

a positive impact on families.

The 2023 Family Choice Awards are presented in the following categories: Apparel, Accessories,

Adaptive Products, Apps, Audio Books, Babies and Parenting Products, Bikes and Scooters,

Books, CD’s, Children’s Products, Developmental/Sensory Products, DVD’s, Electronics, Family

Products, Furniture, House-wares and Home Décor, Jewelry, Movies, Music, New Technology,

Speech and Mobility Aids, Toys and Games, Video Games, Pet Products and Websites.

For complete information on each winner please visit www.FamilyChoiceAwards.com.

My Parrain is the Loup Garou Book Cover Reveal!

South Louisiana folktales are as unique as they are colorful and Johnette Downing, with expressive illustrations by Heather Stanley, crafts a tale of the loup garou in a delightful way that children of all ages will enjoy. 

-Cheré Dastugue Coen, Food & travel writer, and author of Exploring Cajun Country

I have a new book coming out this fall with illustrator Heather Stanley through Pelican Publishing, and as promised, I am revealing the cover to you, my subscribers, first! Heather and I have two other books together (Petit Pierre and the Floating Marsh and Mademoiselle Grands Doigts), and in this book, she really captured the boldness and wildness of my Cajun tall tale My Parrain is the Loup Garou.

This familial love story between a child and his godfather is my original Cajun tall tale, and it is peppered with exaggerated colloquial vernacular to create humor and warmth especially when read aloud. Like children on the playground, the child boasts to the reader about his Parrain’s superhuman strength and wolf-like qualities as proof that the godfather is in fact the legendary mythical creature, the Loup Garou. As playmates, the child and the Parrain set out on magical adventures, perhaps too good to be true. The vivid colors and bold brush strokes in Heather Stanley’s illustrations set a swampy tone and blur the lines between fact and fantasy. This lighthearted twist to the often dark oral traditions of the Cajun werewolf are sure to make children laugh, and hopefully wildly dream. 

The book will be released in fall 2023, and there are already two events scheduled:

Saturday, October 7 at 11:00-1:00, Blue Cypress Books, 8123 Oak St, New Orleans, LA

Saturday, October 28, Time TBA, Louisiana Book Festival, State Library of Louisiana, downtown Baton Rouge, LA

Pre-order your copy today for a fall 2023 delivery at

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Johnette Downing

Or contact retailers@arcadiapublishing.com

On the Farm Video Released!

On the Farm by Johnette Downing

During the pandemic, I spent some time illustrating some of my songs to create animated music videos. I will be releasing these videos over the next several months.

I hope youngsters will enjoy singing along with "On The Farm," a sequential song about animals on a farm. Based on one of my songs by the same title on my Parents' Choice Recommended Award winning "Wild and Woolly Wiggle Songs" album for children, this animated music video includes animal sound effects, and is illustrated in cut-paper collage, a technique used to create textures by layering and gluing paper atop paper to create shapes, animals, buildings, etc.

___________________

Johnette Downing is a musician, author, illustrator, former early childhood music teacher and poet from New Orleans, Louisiana. The Louisiana Writer Award recipient, Johnette has received dozens of awards and has performed music for children on five continents for over 35 years.

Words, Music, Illustrations, Arrangement, Performance, and Animation by Johnette Downing.

All rights reserved

@2000 & 2020 Johnette Downing, Wiggle Worm Records, ASCAP Administered by Concord Music. Underlying song distributed digitally by CDBaby.

For more information, please visit www.johnettedowning.com.

Feeling the Festival Vibe! Newsletter

What, when, and where? I hope to see you there!

Pack up the kiddos and boogie on over to the Kids Tent at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Sunday, April 30, 2023 between 2:15-3:00 for some Louisiana tunes for children!

Joining me again this year is three-time Grammy winner (and hubby) Scott Billington! There will be plenty of fan favorites and new songs in this toe-tapping, two-stepping féte for the whole family. 

For Tickets

I mentioned in my last newsletter that I have a new book coming out this fall with illustrator Heather Stanley through Pelican Publishing, and as promised, I am revealing the cover to you, my subscribers, first! Heather and I have two other books together (Petit Pierre and the Floating Marsh and Mademoiselle Grands Doigts), and in this book, she really captured the boldness and wildness of my Cajun tall tale My Parrain is the Loup Garou.

CDs Have Arrived!

The physical CDs for my Jumpin' Jitters, It's Halloween album, of slightly spooky, mostly silly holiday songs for children, have finally arrived! 

"Johnette Downing is a New Orleans treasure, and Jumping Jitters shows why she is so beloved - a super fun, spooky fais-do-do that kids and adults will enjoy! And if you're anything like me, you'll want to listen to it year-round!"
    —DJ LizE, The Kid's Show, WTUL New Orleans 91.5fm

         Order Yours Today!

Upcoming events

April 30 at 2:15-3:00, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Kids Tent, New Orleans Fairgrounds

May 4 at 11:00-11:45, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, 916 N. Peters, French Market

May 22-26, Arts Learning for Massachusetts, School Concert Tour 

June 1 at 11:00-11:45, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, 916 N. Peters, French Market

June 3 at 2:00-4:00, Book signing, Barnes & Noble Metairie, Veterans Blvd., Metairie, LA

June 6-8, at 10:00 and 2:00, Livingston Parish Libraries, LA

June 16 at 10:00 and 2:00, LaSalle Parish Libraries, LA

June 21 at 10:00 and 2:00, St. James Parish Libraries, LA

July 6 at 11:00-11:45, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, 916 N. Peters, French Market

July 7-8 at 10:00 and 2:00, Ascension Parish Libraries, LA

July 12 at 6:30-7:15 PM, Hamilton-Wenham Library, Hamilton, MA

August 4 at 9:45-10:30, Nantucket Atheneum, Garden, Nantucket, MA
 

I was grocery shopping yesterday when a young man came up to me and asked if I was Johnette Downing. His mother, Ms. Fontenot, was a client who hired me for decades to perform for her summer camp in New Orleans. The young man said he remembered being in the audience of my concerts when he was a young camper there. He then told me that I had just performed at HIS son's school. Ms. Fontenot, her son, and her grandson may have no idea how much it means to me to know that I was part of three generations of their lovely family in some small way. 

Thank you all for allowing me to experience this one precious life with you and your families. - Johnette 

Down in Louisiana Released in Paperback!

At long last, one of my best selling books is back in print in a new paperback edition! This author/illustrator owned edition features a new educational component that adds yet another layer to this beloved singable counting book about Louisiana animals and their habitats.

Buy the Book!   Buy the Song!  Buy on Amazon!

Grammy Awards Here We Come!

Congratulations to Scott for his Grammy Nomination in Best Historical Album category for producing the box set “Life’s Work, A Retrospective” about the life and career of legendary artist Doc Watson. We will be heading to the Grammys in Los Angeles to walk the red carpet on February 5th. Best of luck to Scott! We can’t wait for the event.

Jumpin' Jitters', It's Halloween Released TODAY!

Happy Halloween! No trick here, my Jumpin’ Jitters, It’s Halloween album is out TODAY on streaming platforms world wide and on my website! It was such a joy making this album of fourteen slightly spooky, mostly silly songs for children.

I want to thank Threadhead Cultural Foundation for the generous grant that partially funded the project. I would also like to thank co-producer Scott Billington, recording engineers Steve Reynolds, Jake Eckert and Naylan Williams, and mastering engineer Jeff Albert.

A monster cast of musicians created an eerie soundscape to make the album spine-tingling fun for the whole family. A deep bow to musicians C. R. Gruver, Scott Billington, Nathan Williams, Jake Eckert, Gina Forsyth, Lee Allen Zeno, Doug Belote, EJ Ouellette, and the Whole Music Student chorus.

I appreciate the teachers over the years who shared Halloween songs and chants with me to use in my classrooms and in my live shows. Many of those songs appear on the album such as “Mean Old Witch,” “Stirring My Brew,” and “Jack-O’-Lantern.” The album includes many original songs such as “Jumpin’ Jitters,” “Shake Your Skeletons,” “Goosebumps,” and “Little Bat Song,” among others.

I hope your Halloween is all treat and filled with song!

-Johnette