General Mills Lowers Sugar

General Mills announced today that it will be reducing the amount of sugar contained in its cereals marketed to children. Five years after the firm, which is based in Minnesota and is, I believe, the second largest cereal producer in the country, converted all of its cereal to whole grains, this is a welcome move that's still been a long time in coming. It would be great if now Post, Kellogg, Nestle in Europe, and the other cereal makers follow suit (I don't follow this industry enough to know just where every company is on the "rush" to health food status). It's something that should position the companies as socially responsible without cutting into their bottom line (like banning marketing to children or advertising during children's television shows, which has been troubling in the United Kingdom). I hope the nutritional difference is enough to make an impact in children's diets, and I also wish there was a way to continue to inform parents that it's not just the lack of sugar in these foods they allow their children to consume (or, like at our house, consume themselves), but also the fact that eating these foods instead of more nutritional alternatives robs you of the potential benefit you could have had from those. In that sense it's like soft drinks and milk; sure the sugar and fat are bad for you, but it's the lack of calcium that's going to give you osteoporosis. Anyway, kudos to General Mills for taking this step, and let's hope there are more such announcements in the future.

Milkshake Gets a Grammy Nod (plus Tor Hyams)

Since I've been going through their entire output quite meticulously over the past couple weeks, I've become quite the fan of Milkshake recently. If you missed my original review of their new album "Great Day" you can have a look at it now. This week's news, however, is that the album has been nominated for a Grammy for the best children's musical album category, thus simply validating my opinion of it.

To be fair, I suspect that all of the nominees are pretty good, and a lover of children's music would be well served to check them all out, which you can do here. They're listed in category 76, and the spoken word nominees are #77.

Here's a press release about Milkshake and the nomination:

BALTIMORE (December 6) – With the Recording Academy’s December 3 announcement that Milkshake’s album Great Day has been nominated for a 2010 GRAMMY® Award in the “Best Musical Album for Children” category, the Baltimore-based rock band for kids has achieved yet another milestone in a remarkable career.

Milkshake began in 2002 as a musical experiment on the part of vocalist Lisa Mathews and guitarist Mikel Gehl, longtime bandmates from Baltimore’s indie rock group Love Riot, who vowed to “grow” their music right along with their own young children. Since then, Milkshake and the band’s legion of fans have been living an exciting, real-life, growing up adventure, moving from early childhood through the early elementary years, as the group toured the country and produced three multi-award-winning CDs, a DVD, and a multitude of music videos seen all over the kid-friendly networks. Along the way, as the kids grew and the music grew with them, Milkshake grew from a duo to a six-piece band.

The GRAMMY® nomination for Great Day is a crowning achievement of the past seven years in the life of Milkshake. Notes Lisa Mathews, "Milkshake is a rock band at heart, and we happen to have found our calling playing music for families to enjoy together. After all those years performing in the adult music world, where everyone yearns for a GRAMMY®, our nomination has us over the moon with joy. To be recognized in this way by our peers is immensely gratifying. Although we’re told over and over that adults love our music (and it’s great to hear that!), our purpose, from the start, has been to create real music that kids can call their own. We’re very grateful that NARAS is honoring these ideals."

Known for their pop-rock style that fairly crackles with energy, Milkshake indeed has a following of all ages. The band is familiar to millions of American households through their colorful, energetic music videos, which have been seen on PBS KIDS, NICK JR., and DISCOVERY KIDS. Milkshake’s live concerts, described by the Baltimore Sun as “a little like magic,” bring the same happy, rocking energy onstage to fans across the country. Baltimore Magazine declared, “Hip parents who like music will absolutely thrill to Milkshake.” Kenny Curtis, Sirius/XM Radio’s Director of Specialty Programming, describes Milkshake as “an amazing band whose songs are conceptual and fully thought-out pieces of music.” Wrote Paste Magazine, “Overflowing with energy and enough stylistic chops to move convincingly from rockabilly to jangle-pop, these tunes will make fans of the whole family.”

Great Day demonstrates the rocking energy, true teamwork, and sheer joy of six musicians performing “live to disc” the material that has won them coast-to-coast applause. Milkshake has previously released three critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning CDs – Happy Songs, Bottle of Sunshine, and PLAY! – in addition to a Parents’ Choice® Silver Award-winning DVD, Screen Play!, a joyous mix of MTV-like videos, animation, in-concert videos and cool bonus features, including interviews with the band and a pair of videos featured on PBS KIDS.

As Milkshake prepares to walk the Red Carpet at the GRAMMY® Awards, they are also looking ahead. The band has conceptualized The Milkshake Show, a TV program for kids that’s like Reading Rainbow meets The Monkees. Other plans include a Christmas CD with a festive mix of new material and fun songs from Milkshake’s live holiday shows and, of course, continuing to perform live for kids and famiies nationwide.

And here's a second release, this one focusing around the album's producer Tor Hyams. It's enlightening, and I for one think it productive to learn more about the producers behind kids' music's top acts. Enjoy:

LOS ANGELES (December 4) – Music producer Tor Hyams takes special pride in The Recording Academy’s December 3 announcement that Milkshake’s album Great Day has been nominated for a 2010 GRAMMY® Award in the “Best Musical Album for Children” category. Tor Hyams produced Great Day as part of his ongoing commitment to creating exceptional family entertainment.

Great Day is a capstone of nearly 20 years in the music and film industries for Hyams, who says, “Producing this kids’ album was an amazing experience, absolutely as exciting and fulfilling as anything I’ve done in the adult arena. Milkshake is truly a rock band of the highest caliber. The songs are edgy and packed with meaning, but also just plain good fun for the whole family. I’m tremendously proud to have produced the GRAMMY® nominated Great Day.”

Tor Hyams’ experience in the entertainment industry runs the gamut from writing and performing his own material to producing world-class recording artists and composing dozens of scores for film and television. Hyams’ star as a music producer has most definitely been on the rise, with albums for Joan Osborne, Vivian Campbell, Edwin McCain, Broadway star Rachel York, Jewish rappers Chutzpah, and the late Lou Rawls under his belt. He continues to collaborate with Lisa Loeb, Perry Farrell, Edwin McCain, and more.

Since 2002, inspired by his own family, Hyams has broadened his scope to encompass the burgeoning world of children’s/family entertainment. He founded HyLo Entertainment as an umbrella company for these activities, which began with Hyams writing and producing the award-winning, star-studded children’s CD A World of Happiness. Originally licensed to Disney’s Buena Vista Records, the album features performances by Samuel L. Jackson, Magic Johnson, Lou Rawls, Isaac Hayes, Debbie Harry, Gary Oldman, and Perry Farrell, among others.

With Farrell, Tor Hyams then conceived and developed Kidzapalooza as a family festival nested within the Lollapalooza Festival, a project of C3 Presents. Kidzapalooza, now in its sixth successful year with Hyams as producer and emcee, has been contracted through 2015. Innovative ancillary properties include Kidzapalooza Radio on Sirius/XM and a new compilation album, Kidzapalooza Vol. 1, featuring tracks from some of the best new names in family friendly music, such as Lunch Money, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, and The Jimmies, along with such familiar artists as Ralph Covert (of Ralph's World), Perry Farrell, Lisa Loeb, and more. Continuing his ever-expanding live music work with C3, Hyams also found himself producing the “Kiddie Limits” stage for Austin City Limits and the kids’ stages for a number of other regional festivals. Rounding out his activities, for the past several years Tor Hyams has led the family music efforts at the SXSW Music Festival.

Tor Hyams’ success in the world of live children’s music has spawned other opportunities, which include the formation of Happiness Entertainment, a full service children’s music label with distribution through Koch. In its inaugural year, Happiness has already released three albums, including a bonus track-filled reissue of A World of Happiness, the abovementioned Kidzapalooza compilation CD, and a family hip hop CD by Secret Agent 23 Skidoo.

Riding on the crest of today’s growing interest in children’s music, Tor Hyams decided to found Kindie Fest, the first-ever family music conference, featuring panels and performances with the most influential personalities in the field. The first Kindie Fest, held in Brooklyn, NY in May 2009, was sold out. The event’s sophomore year is planned for Spring 2010. Added recognition came when Tor Hyams was named a judge for the audio category of the 2009 NAPPA awards, one of the world’s most prestigious honors for children’s products.

The future holds unlimited possibilities for Hyams. Upcoming projects include producing albums for the critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning children’s musician Frances England and the hugely popular kids’ band Lunch Money.

Kids BAFTAs Awarded

Sunday night in London the BAFTAs were awarded, and it deserves reposting here on Red Balloon. Go here for a full list of nominees and winners. Among highlights: Coraline, which I finally saw last week during Henry Selick's New York publicity tour, won best film; The Penguins of Madagascar beat Phineas and Ferb for best international (i.e. non-British) television programme; Nick Jr. (UK?) beat both CBeebies and the CBBC for channel of the year; Bookaboo, which I wish were here in the States ever since seeing puppet models over a year ago, won best preschool live action; Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom won best preschool animation and proco Astley Baker Davies won best independent production company of the year (my family used to be Astleys until about two-hundred years ago); Kindle Entertainment got a few wins such as Helen Blakeman best writer for Dustbin Baby and the Big and Small website for best interactive (those two are seen above). Makes me anxious for The Shiver Sisters and whatever else is coming out of that studio.

It's all more than enough to make me long for a crepe at Westminster Bridge (though good old New York will have to do for now). Congratulations to all the winners. Consumers (parents) on both sides of the Atlantic would be well advised to check out all the nominees they can--there's a ton of stuff here I was unaware of that just looks fantastic.

The New Parents in Kids' Lit

Here's another article I've run across that's gotten swamped in my backlog. It's a New Yorker piece by Daniel Zalewski about how parents are depicted in today's picture books opposed to the classics of the past. Brief summary: stern and authoritative is out, bumbling and befuddled is in. I wonder if such findings are statistically significant, but as I browse titles in my head I see that Zalewski is probably on to something. I just hope it doesn't reflect too accurately how I myself teach and discipline my daughter. But either way I'm sure the kids will turn out all right, and the new trend makes for some great new characters, like Ian Falconer's Olivia and her wonderful family.

Jaroo -- Cookie Jar Launches Online Kids' TV

So, my plans--or hopes, really--to write three or four long essays about Sesame Street this month have been squelched by, well, actual work. There might be more to come, but for now I'll continue the theme of Canadian television I got into last week.

If things are moving and shaking in broadcast and cable television, the realm of the not-so-distant future is of course online television. The big news in November was therefore the launch of Jaroo, an online station sponsored by Cookie Jar. At the moment, in its beta stage, the website features all Cookie Jar material, but that's not a bad library, especially after their purchase of DIC Entertainment last year. From classics like Inspector Gadget and Paddington Bear to more recent fare, there should already be something for every kid, and negotiations are evidently underway to carry material from other providers. Check out this article by Paul Bond in Ad Week.

The State of Children's TV in Canada

If that's the kind of thing that interests you, then check out this article by Kate Calder about the Children, Youth and Media Conference held in Toronto Thursday. Interesting stuff.

Where Gossip Girl Comes From

I feel like I've been incredibly behind in blog posts--and everything else--since the whirlwind of MIP in October. Here, for instance, is a New Yorker profile of Alloy Entertainment, the midtown teen media company responsible for such fare as the television version of Gossip Girl, the cast of which is seen here.

The article, by Rebecca Mead, ran in the October 19 issue, meaning that I'm a full month behind here. You can read a long abstract, but a digital subscription is required for the full text. It's worth digging up, though, for those interested in teen literature and television; I don't think the profile was biased in any direction, but it does take a critical look at the kind of story factory environment that produces a lot of kids' and teens' entertainment. We're somewhat used to that in publishing--where certain houses commission authors to fulfill projects according to their preexisting specs--but moving the formula into television and, now, feature films, seems to be a new creature than we've seen in the past. Creation by formula isn't always anathema to art, and heaven knows Gossip Girl is popular enough, but it's worthwhile for those of us interested in the quality and artistic merit of youth media to examine how this production model will impact future shows and books. That model will probably prove more pervasive and influential over the next five to seven years than the Twilight phenomenon or anything else, except interactivity (which is a subject for a different post). If you're interested, Alloy's website is here.

Sesame Street's 40th Celebrations

Here's the clip of Michelle Obama on Sesame Street a little while ago. I'm not sure what day it aired on television, but Sesame Workshop has connected it at least indirectly with their jubilee celebrations. There's certainly a lot of buzz going on around Lincoln Center and the Kaufman Astoria Studios.

It's nice that this isn't just peripheral to Mrs. Obama's agenda--she's been promoting gardening and health since her husband took office--and that it's not really just a "kiddy" issue: gardening dovetails into issues of economic self-sufficiency, environmental stewardship, personal responsibility (teaching kids to work), and of course health.

But more to the point of the anniversary celebrations on the 10th is this statement from the show's co-creator Joan Ganz Cooney and various actors including puppeteers. The other day I posted Big Bird's rendition of "It's Not Easy Being Green" at Jim Henson's memorial service to reference Henson's contribution to the show, but to be accurate it was not his brainchild. It came from Cooney and Ralph Rogers, who passed away in 1997. I've got a lot more to say about the origin and legacy of the show, but I'll forebear from rambling for now. Kudos to everyone who's been involved over the years, from Cooney, Henson, and Rogers all the way down to the Teeny Little Super Guy.

Happy Birthday, Sesame Street

Sesame Street in England

Tom Geoghegan and Megan Lane of the BBC wrote a nice little article yesterday about the storied history of Sesame Street in the United Kingdom. It's quite interesting and you can read it here.

Sesame Street Month on Red Balloon (aka Orange Oscar)

That's right, Sesame Street is turning forty a week from tomorrow (Nov. 10), and to celebrate I'll be posting thoughts and videos all month (or trying to!). To start us off I thought I'd hearken back to its 1969 origins with some fun videos. And what better one to start with than the original orange Oscar? He's singing "I Love Trash," a song I knew as a kid but had no idea dated from so far back in the series. The performance then as always was by the great Carroll Spinney, who also plays Big Bird and is one of the great puppeteers of the last four decades.

Sid and Elmo on Swine Flu

Happy election day, everyone. Tonight Loretta and I had fun voting for "Mr. Blueberry" for a third term as mayor (even though I secretly had her pull the lever for someone else). At any rate, my friend Stephen sent me a YouTube video today of Sid the Science Kid singing a promotional song about the H1N1 vaccine. So in today's spirit of public service I thought I'd pass that along, leaving it up to you to decide if it's completely helpful or a little bit on the creepy side. If kids are scared of shots I think things like this will generally help. I thought I'd throw some Elmo in too--it looks like Kathleen Sebelius was right about his sneezing abilities.