Weekly Summary (4/7/14 - 4/13/14)

Video: "When Pigs Fly" - Ryan Adams Sings Sandra Boynton

One of the highlights of Sandra Boynton's Frog Trouble is the tender ballad "When Pigs Fly," sung by Ryan Adams.  It is earnest and not at all as humorous as you'd expect a Boynton take on that familiar cliche.  It's quite beautiful.

Boynton directed and storyboarded the animated video for the song.  There's a tad more humor in the video, but there is also, dare I say it, more tenderness in this recounting of some adventures of parent and child.

Ryan Adams - "When Pigs Fly" [YouTube]

Weekly Summary (3/31/14 - 4/6/14)

KidVid 2014 Tournament Semifinal #1: Alison Krauss vs. Frances England

Well, the voting for the initial stage of the 2014 edition of the KidVid Tournament from my list of favorite kids music videos of 2013 has ended and the top vote-getters are (alphabetically)...

Duke Otherwise - "Brussels Sprout Shout!"

Frances England - "Day You Were Born"

Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck"

Alison Krauss (via Sandra Boynton) - "End of a Summer Storm"

But there's little time for the four of them to rest on their laurels as we move directly in the final, er, four.  Semifinal #1 features Frances England's stop-motion collage video (from Antonina Clarke) for "Day You Were Born" from Blink of an Eye going up against a bunny's courageous trip home in Keith Boynton's video for Alison Krauss' "End of a Summer Storm" from Sandra Boynton's Frog Trouble.

As always, the rules are brief and simple:

1) One vote per family.

2) Deadline to vote is 8 PM Thursday night West Coast time.

3) Be nice, play fair, have fun, don't get obsessed with it.

With that, watch both videos and vote!

Frances England - "Day You Were Born" [YouTube]

Alison Krauss (via Sandra Boynton) - "End of a Summer Storm" [YouTube]

My Favorite Kids Music Videos of 2013

It's been a couple years since I last tackled the kids music video world.  After years of organizing KidVid Tournaments, I think I just needed a break.  Plus I was organizing a talk on great kids music videos and my video curation energies went there last spring.

That doesn't mean, however, that I've lost interest in finding great videos to share with your family, friends, and strangers in line at the grocery store.  In fact, I went back and looked -- across the site, I featured nearly 100 new videos.

It's a new year now and with that I have a little extra energy to give you a brand new list -- my favorite kids music videos of 2013 (-ish).  Let's define the video year as I have in the past -- new videos featured on the site between March 1 of the prior year and February 28 of the current year.  (So, March 1, 2013 through February 1, 2014.)  Let's also say only one video per artist (though there were a handful of artists I considered breaking that rule for).  As always, I'm interested in visual creativity, a decent level of post-production values (which doesn't necessarily mean expensive), and a really good song.

PS: Miss the KidVid Tournament?  Then I might just have something up my sleeve for you.  Stay tuned.

Without further ado, then, in alphabetical order by artist, my 25 favorite kids music videos of 2013.  Whether this is the first time you've seen some or all of these, or the tenth, please enjoy.

"Similes and Metaphors" - The Bazillions

"Stump Hotel" - Caspar Babypants

"Thingamajig" - Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band

(Oddly enough, removed from YouTube for violating its Terms of Service.  I've had similar problems with YouTube regarding videos I've had specific permission to upload.  I can imagine how frustrating it is for an artist.)

"Bunny in the Moon" - DidiPop

"Palindrome" - Dog on Fleas / Readeez

"Brussels Sprout Shout" - Duke Otherwise

"Midnight Sun" - Elska

"Day You Were Born" - Frances England

"Cakenstein" - Gustafer Yellowgold

"How Big" - Eric Herman

"Dinosaur" - Lori Henriques

"From You" - Charlie Hope

"End of a Summer Storm" - Alison Krauss (via Sandra Boynton)

"Spicy Kid" - Lunch Money

"Cocodrilo" - Mister G

"When I Get Bald" - Alastair Moock

"Snow Day" - Zak Morgan

"Skateboard" - The Not-Its

"Tambourine Submarine" - Recess Monkey

"Recess" - Justin Roberts

"Bigga Bagga" - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke

"Turn! Turn! Turn!" - Dan Zanes & Elizabeth Mitchell

Weekly Summary (2/3/14 - 2/16/14)