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.

Swamp Romp Earns a Fids and Kamily Award!

The Best Kids and Family Music of 2019: 14th Annual Fids and Kamily Music Award Winners

It is time to announce the 14th Annual Fids and Kamily Music Awards, celebrating the best in music for kids and families from the past year. For more than a decade, we've tallied the votes of kids music experts across the country to name those albums deserving of highest acclaim.

This year's top spot goes to previous Fids & Kamily Award winners The Okee Dokee Brothers for their album Winterland. There are a number of other artists familiar to the winners' list as well as some Fids and Kamily newcomers making up the top 12.

You can listen to selections from the top 12 by listening to this weekend's Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child on the air or by streaming it on the show’s website starting Sunday evening.

The Top 12 albums of 2019 are (in order):

1. The Okee Dokee Brothers - Winterland
2. The Lucky Band - Buenos Diaz
3. Josh Lovelace - Growing Up
4. Sonia de los Santos - Alegría
5. Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could - Under the Big Umbrella
6. Renee & Friends - Kindred
7. Johnette Downing - Swamp Romp
8. Randy Kaplan - Shake It and Break It
9. Story Pirates - Backstroke Raptor
10. Alphabet Rockers - The Love
11. Andrew & Polly - Go For the Moon
12. Oran Etkin - Finding Friends Far from Home

Parents' Choice Silver Award Winner - Swamp Romp!

We are thrilled to announce that Swamp Romp is a 2019 Parents’ Choice Silver Award winner! Below is the fabulous review from Lahri Bond!

“New Orleans-based, award-winning musician, singer and author, Johnette Downing presents the music and history of her Louisiana roots Swamp Romp, her tenth recording for children. Downing’s strong, expressive alto is supported by a fine group of players including ace harmonica player and producer Scott Billington. Contained within is a generous gumbo of fifteen original compositions, and a stellar bilingual arrangement of the traditional “J’Ai Vu Loup, Le Renard Et La Belette” (“I Saw the Wolf, the Fox and the Weasel”) sung as a duet with fiddler Joel Savoy and famed accordionist Roddle Romero. Both Cajun and Zydeco styles are explored on such fun songs as “Mudbug Boogie,” the Mambo-infused “It Wasn’t Me (the Possum Song)” and a beautiful duet with the legendary Irma Thomas on the 50s-style doowop of “Poor Worry Anna.” Rivers and wetlands are celebrated in the rocking title track and the tongue twisting spelling song “Mississippi River.” The New Orleans mixing of cross-cultural musical styles is aptly demonstrated in “Bamboula Rhythm,” powered by Kirk Joseph’s percussive sousaphone (tuba) playing. “Gathering Something Sweet” takes a short and delicious detour to the Caribbean, while “Your Best Pair of Shoes” is a classic Fats Domino/Allen Toussaint-style rhythm aided by members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. N’Orleans dietary delicacies as Po’Boy (on “How to Dress a Po’Boy”) and the acapella “Crawfish Etoufée” are given tasty arrangements. The rich cultural contributions of Spanish Canary Islanders (Isleños) to New Orleans communities is celebrated in “Our Oxcarts,” while “Stand Up, Jump” is a great movement song backed by The McCray Sisters and a kid chorus. The album closes with the beautiful, lilting “Star in My Sky.” Eco-friendly packaging holds a beautifully illustrated booklet of lyrics and song annotations, making this a must have for teaching children about the marvelous melting pot of cultures that makes up New Orleans.”

Lahri Bond ©2019 Parents’ Choice

Lahri Bond is a father, a writer, music historian and an art professor in Western Massachusetts. His published books include Spinning Tales Weaving Hope (with the Stories For World Change Network) for New Society Press and People of the Earth (coauthored with Ellen Evert Hopman) for Destiny Books