Family Music Series Continues into 2024!

I am delighted to announce that my Free Family Music Series at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park will continue in 2024! Families, school groups and I have long enjoyed getting together once per month at the Visitor’s Center for a cultural immersion into the Louisiana music that is both entertaining and educational.

Join me on the first Thursday of each month (unless noted) from 11:00-11:45 AM at 916 N. Peters Street, in Dutch Alley in the French Market/French Quarter. There are paid parking lots near the venue, but the closest one is the River Lot behind Cafe du Monte.

Here are the dates:

January 4, February 1, March 14 (second Thursday), April 4, May 2, June 6, July 11 (second Thursday due to holiday), no show in August, September 5, October 3, November 7 and December 5, 2024.

My Parrain Is the Loup Garou Has Been Released!

My 30th book, My Parrain is the Loup Garou, illustrated by Heather Stanley, was released this fall among a flurry of book signing events and television interviews! The book makes a great holiday gift; therefore, feel free to check in with the following stores to see if signed copies are still available:

Blue Cypress Books on Oak St.

Garden District Books on Prytania St.

Barnes & Noble Metairie on Veterans Blvd.

Little Toy Shoppe on Decatur St

Cavalier Books in Denham Springs

Audubon Zoo Gift Shop on Magazine

Alice & Amelia Shop on Magazine St

Signed copies are also available on my website.

Arcadia Publishing is having a holiday sale on the book for a limited time!!!

The book is available through online retailers such as Amazon.

Photo of Heather and me is courtesy of @grantography_2023. Thanks Grant!

Five Little Pumpkins Music Video Released!

Happy October!!! Based on a traditional song, featured on my "Jumpin' Jitters, It's Halloween" album, "Five Little Pumpkins" invites children to sing along as they watch the song gently come to life in this child-centered animated music video illustrated in cut-paper collage.

I hope you enjoy the video!

Visit www.johnettedowning.com to learn more about Johnette Downing, her music, books and programs.

(c) (p) 2023 Johnette Downing, Wiggle Worm Records, LLC, ASCAP. Performance, illustration and video by Johnette Downing. Animation by Scott Billington. Guitar and vocals by Johnette Downing and Violin by Gina Forsyth.

"Five Little Pumpkins" is on the "Jumpin' Jitters, It's Halloween" album.

Song administered by Concord Music Group. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication without prior written consent prohibited.

Halloween Gift Set Available Here Only!

Get into the SPIRIT of Halloween with this spooktacular gift set available here only! Trick or treaters will enjoy listening to age-appropriate Halloween songs and reading two eerie books, both with a Louisiana twist!

“Jumpin’ Jitters, It’s Halloween” is a album for children of 14 slightly spooky, mostly silly traditional and original songs.

Spooky Second Line is a Halloween book set in New Orleans during a jazz funeral. The witch plays the drum, the ghost plays the sousaphone, the cat plays the trombone, and more as the band leads a parade to the cemetery for a joyful celebration. Get out your scarves to punctuate the jazz beat when read aloud!

The Fifolet is an eerie Cajun tale about the legendary ball of light in the swamp (also known as swamp gas). This Jack of Lantern, Will-Of-The-Wisp, story is perfect for campfires, sleepovers, and just plain spine-tingling anytime fun. A gentle lesson about greed, and an author’s note about the myth are included.

Mumbo Jumbo Has a New Cover!

Well, it was time for a reprint of my picture book Mumbo Jumbo, Stay Out of the Gumbo, illustrated by the amazing Jennifer Lindsley, and the publisher and art director (Pelican Publishing) thought it might be fun to give the cover more of a Mardi Gras feel. We also added the subtitle A Cajun Mardi Gras Tale, something I wished I had done before the first printing.

This book represented the State of Louisiana at the National Book Festival in Washington, D. C. in 2017, and Jennifer and I attended the event dressed in our Cajun Mardi Gras attire!

So, tah dah! Here is the new cover! The book is being printed as we speak and should be in stores in time for Mardi Gras season. You can preorder it now, and the books will be shipped when they arrive.

Happy very early Mardi Gras!

Book Trailer for My Parrain Is the Loup Garou!

Here is a little book trailer teaser in advance of the fall 2023 release!!!

Press Copy of My Parrain is the Loup Garou is in!

I received the press copy of my new book My Parrian Is the Loup Garou, and it looks so good! Heather Stanley’s bold illustrations really set the swampy mood for this original Cajun tall tale about a boy and his Godfather as they go on wild adventures together, perhaps too good to be true. Books should be in by mid-September, and will be available in time for my book signings for the book launch as follows:

Saturday, October 7, 2023

• 11:00 AM 12:30 PM

• Blue Cypress Books, 8123 Oak Street, New Orleans, LA, 70118

Saturday, October 14, 2023

11:00 AM 12:30 PM

• Garden District Books, 2727 Prytania Street, New Orleans, LA, 70130

Saturday, October 28, 2023

• Time TBA

• Louisiana Book Festival, State Library of Louisiana, 701 North 4th Street, Baton Rouge, LA, 70802

You can also pre-order copies on my website , through Amazon, or through the two bookstores listed above.

I hope to see you there!