Jazzing it Up a Bit at Jazz Fest!

We will be jazzing it up a little bit in the Kids Tent at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Sunday, May 8, 2022 from 3:40-4:25 PM. In additional to fan favorites such as Today Is Monday in Louisiana, Feliciana LaRoux and Wiggle Worms, we are adding two jazz tunes to the set list, a family-friendly Bourbon Street Parade and my own Who Got the Baby in the King Cake?

During the pandemic, Scott and I decided to stretch our musical muscles and learn some traditional jazz standards on the ukulele and chromatic harmonica. What we came up with is a set of original and traditional jazz tunes for grown-ups, just for the fun of it. Little did we know, we could use those new brain wrinkles to jazz up our children’s concert at Jazz Fest this week, and our grown-up concert at the Porretta Soul Festival in Porretta Terme, Italy this July.

So we hope you parade on over to the Kids Tent this Sunday for some Louisiana roots music for families!

Amazon Five Star Review for Singing Waters!

I am really touched by this 5 Star Customer Review for my Singing Waters haiku book by Cabbie on Amazon!

Cabbie

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent haiku!

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2022

If you want to read excellent haiku, I suggest "Singing Waters." Ms. Downing has captured the true spirit of haiku, nothing gimmicky and everything of substance and resonance. Where her poems leave off, this reader was able to discover the "aha" moment. She also included two haibun, one of my favorite forms of the haiku genre. Kudos to Ms. Downing. Her poems are lovely and this book is one I am happy to include in my library.

New Paperback edition of Today is Monday in Kentucky!

Make the singing-reading connection with this singable book for little ones who
love Kentucky!

My Today is Monday in Kentucky picture book, illustrated by the amazing Deborah Ousley Kadair Thomas, is now available in a smaller paperback format on Amazon. Today is Monday in Kentucky introduces children to seven days of classic Kentucky fare. For a taste of what is on the menu, there is burgoo on Monday, Derby Pie® on Saturday, and spoon bread on Sunday. This tempting read has a song and book/music video for streaming. 

While supplies last, the picture book edition is available in my Store. 
The new paperback edition is now available on Amazon. 
I hope you enjoy the YouTube book video!

Singing Waters to be released on April 5th!

My first collection of haiku poetry (for grown-ups) titled Singing Waters, A Selection of Haiku, Senryu and Haibun will be officially released on April 5th! Published by buddha baby press, an imprint of bottle rockets press., Singing Waters is a collection of over one hundred of my previously published haiku in one volume. The book is divided into water chapters to evoke a mood even though fews poems are about water.

I will be signing the books at Blue Cypress Books on Saturday, April 16, 2022 from 5:00-6:30 PM, and would love to see you there. Not in town on that date? No problem. You can preorder your copies right here, and the books will be shipped on April 1st.

Haiku is a short, unrhymed, one breath poem of Japanese origin consisting of 17 syllables or fewer, written in three lines or fewer, with two concrete images separated by a pause in juxtaposition relating nature to human nature. Senryu are similar to haiku except that it deals with primarily with human nature and human foibles. Haibun combines short prose with haiku.

I hope you enjoy the singing waters!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Here we are at Café du Monde in New Orleans, where the powdered sugar on the beignets is about as close as we’ll get to snow this year. We hope your new year is equally sweet.

Jumpin' Jitters - The Official Single Release Coming on October 22!

I am all jittery over the official release of my “Jumpin’ Jitters” single from my upcoming Halloween album for children by the same title. The song will be released on all streaming and music platforms on and around Friday, October 22! Not only that, but this marks the official album cover reveal which I illustrated with craft foam. I love working with foam because it creates vivid, soft illustrations.

I hope you and the children enjoy this energetic, non-spooky, and interactive song before and during Halloween, sure to help them jump, wiggle, and rattle their bones.