Some of what we read in 2013

These are not recommendations.

I was not paid to write about these books.

These are simply some of the books my kids and I read in 2013. I didn't include my wife's books because she hates social media and wouldn't want people knowing what she read (she read more than all of us combined this past year btw).

This was the first year my daugher, 8, finally started consuming series books at high speed. Clementine, Ivy & Bean, and the Babysitter's Club graphic novels were big. Her top book by far, though, was Smile written and drawn by Raina Telegemeier, a tale of a girl's dental adventures. This became sort of phenomenon amongst third grade girls at her school. She was on the waiting list at the library for it and desperate to get it so I just went ahead and bought it for her. A good investment. She read it like 15 times.

For me this was a year of the novel. I've spent so much of my life focused on history books and in 2013 I just didn't feel like reading the same kind of books I have for a long time (lots of biographies and popular histories). So I binged on novels. A lot of them I read on my phone. Not sure how I feel about this. Some of the ones I read in their actual physical form -- and could find in my disastrous post-holiday house -- you can see above.

Yes, I read the Story of O (I never had!) and James Salter's sex ode, A Sport and A Pastime. I am not ashamed.

I had never read Jesus' Son, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, nor White Teeth before this year. I loved Johnson's novels so this was an oversight I needed to correct. George Saunders is another I finally got to and he pretty much took over my life as I debauched on most of his catalog on my phone during a two- or three-week period. Zadie Smith I finally tried after becoming entranced by her New Yorker piece on Joni Mitchell. Glad we finally got together, me and Zadie.

I read & Sons with an online book club with some friends who live in other places. We "met" on GooglePlus. It was really fun but we haven't successfully begun a second book. We began American Dervish together but I think only I finished it. Emily, Faiuna, etc: can we start again please? (sorry to quote Jesus Christ Superstar)

I finished vol. 3 of Robert Caro's LBJ biography and almost finished the fourth. These books are a problem for me. When I get near the end of one I put it aside, afraid of what my life will be like without it.

I read the kids the first two Harry Potter books and started the third. They're finally ready. I'm trying not to be a lunatic but I really want to get all crazy doing the voices and making it super scary and reading a whole lot at one sitting, often more than they can handle. Advice on this welcome.

Darin Strauss and I ended up following each other on Twitter. Not sure why. But I'm glad we did because I've discovered his writing (which everyone else already knew about it). He was nice enough to send me a copy of his memoir Half A Life after I tweeted about the copy I ordered being stolen from my porch (I like to think of the moment when the thieves, thinking they had some sweet electronics or something, opened the packages to find an elegiac literary memoir and two volumes of the Clementine chapter books). I sent him some albums for his kids in return.

Michael Hearst's wonderful encyclopedia of hard-to-believe read living things, Unusual Creatures, was revisited a lot. So were the books of Ezra Jack Keats. The Dees did a whole show based on his work at the Contemporary Jewish Museum along with Rudy Trubitt back in February and this started our family reacquaintance with books we knew (Snowy Day, Peter's Chair) and our introduction to ones we didn't (Regards to the Man in the Moon -- a book that forced me to have a number of conversations about 9/11 due to its beautiful picture of the old mighty towers).

Tomi Ungerer's Moon Man never gets old. Both kids still want it time to time.

Robert Sullivan's book about following in Washington's steps -- literally -- makes the whole experience of living in this crowded dirty part of the world much more pleasant. I think about it all the time. (I might have actually read this in 2012 but I can't remember)

D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths rules more every time you open it. But you know that. Persephone's tale was my 5yo son's most-requested of this past year.

I continued to re-read Paul Reyes' Exiles in Eden as Roy Nathanson and I revised the script and the songs for our musical Trashed Out that was inspired by it.

Morrissey's Autobiography: Booker Prize I say. It's as good as fiction so why not?

What am I forgetting? A lot. Jeanette Winterson! My friend Joy leant me two of her books and I read them in a week. Had heard of her but thought she was a romance novelist. Had no idea she was this icon of feminist and lesbian literature. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is about me! Well none of the specifics but the general feeling, the truth of every moment.

I'm sure I'll think of some other stuff worth mentioning and when I do I'll update this page.

What did you read?

Lloyd


some other stuff that I remembered we read:

my 8yo daughter 
To Dance, a ballerina's graphic novel  by Siena Cherson Siegel with artwork by Mark Siegel
The Whole World's Crazy and at least one book in Jimmy Gownley's Amelia Rules! series
at least one of those My Dumb Diary books
Radioactive, a Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss (the stunning graphic novel about Marie and Pierre Curie)
Weird, But True (put out by National Geographic) and many other fact-filled "can you believe it" true science books with similar titles. She often read these at the table (until we asked her to put them away) and quoted weird facts at length.


my 5yo son
(these are books I read to him)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
Judy Blume's Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and the sequels (my wife has been reading these to both kids)
I Am Optimus Prime, Bumblebee's Best Friend, Luke Skywalker's Amazing Story, Star Wars: Blast Off! and many other terribly written, super-thin beginning reader books about Transformers, Star Wars, Spiderman, Ninjago, and other characters who deserve books that are at least a little bit better. If your kid is into these worlds, though, the encyclopedias are the way to go. Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary has been with us for at least three years (at one time it helped my son get over his fear of going to bathroom -- our deal was that I'd read it to him while he sat on the toilet) and we still continue to return to it.
and, of course, Captain Underpants and Commander Toad

2014 Ulysses book club

Yes, the James Joyce Ulysses. I've been wanting to do a musical book club for it and I finally finally have some co-readers.

Here's the basic plan if you'd like to join us:

- We'll read the Gabler edition

- We'll read two episodes a month. You can find a guide to the episodes here: http://www.rosenbach.org/ulysses-plot-summary Following this guide you should read to page 30 by the end of January. That's doable, right?

- We'll have meetings online and in person. If you're able to meet in person in the NYC area we'll sing songs that show up in the text (this is the whole reason I'm doing the club).


That's it! Get to reading. I hope you're as excited as I am.


Lloyd

The Deedle Deedle Dees play for free in Brooklyn Jan 4

As part of my Sing Back! series at Brooklyn Historical Society, the Deedle Deedle Dees are doing a free show to welcome 2014. Will you come? Saturday, January 4th at 3pm.


Details here.


til then, 

Lloyd

Teachers! Would your class like to write songs about abolitionists and the Emancipation Proclamation with us?

Dear Most Useful People in America (That's you, Teachers):

Would you like me to come into your class to write songs about the Emancipation Proclamation and abolitionists in Brooklyn? Of course you would.

On February 1st I'm devoting my show at Brooklyn Historical Society (I do a monthly family event there themed to their exhibits) to the Emancipation Proclamation (it's on display at BHS) and abolitionists in Brooklyn (they have a new exhibit on this that's about to open).

I'm looking for a school or schools to collaborate on this show with me. I'd come into your classroom throughout January, teach kids about the aforementioned stuff, and write songs with them about it. Then, on Feb 1st, they'd perform their compositions live on stage with me.

In answer to your potential questions:

- Do you have to teach in Brooklyn in order to participate?
Yes, but...
I'm down to do more versions of this project remotely (via Skype, FaceTime, etc) with schools outside Brooklyn or come to your school to do a special workshop / assembly program. Obviously this would take some planning / grant money / etc but we always work these things out. And if you teach in, say, Nebraska we'd figure out a lesson plan that's not only about Brooklyn but rather abolitionists in the country at large or closer to home.

- How do I sign up?
Send me an e-mail at lloydhmiller AT gmail DOT com. We'll make a plan?

More details on all of this soon.

L

This is our home (for a while at least)

The Deedle Deedle Dees are re-working our main site, www.thedeedledeedledees.com. So for now, check here for info on upcoming shows, announcements about new music, background info on our songs, and really anything else Dee-related you'd like to know.

Here's the latest:

- I'm releasing a solo sing-a-long album Sept 24th under my own name, Lloyd H. Miller. Read about it here.

- I'm doing a CD release show for the solo record on Oct. 13th at Shapeshifter Lab in Brooklyn. Details and tickets here.

- The Deedle Deedle Dees are currently writing a new album they hope to release in 2014.

Set list for Madison Square Park 6/18/13

Here's what we played today. I can't remember if this is the exact order.

I'm Gonna Light Up the World
- a song I wrote in Haiti while on a trip with my friend's nonprofit to distribute solar lights. i made it very simple so kids who don't speak English could sing it. i also recently sang it with a bunch of kids at a benefit for Gabby Giffords' organization.
- appears on S.S. Brooklyn, my solo sing-a-long album that's coming out this September.

Nellie Bly
- Nellie Bly was a reporter who took a trip around the world as a publicity stunt for a newspaper in 1889.
- the arrangement we played today we call the "Unchain my Heart" version because it re-works this longtime Dees fan favorite in a Ray Charles-esque way
- appears on Freedom in a Box
- watch us singing the original version on the streets of NewYork here

Cool Papa Bell
- Cool Papa Bell was a player in the Negro Leagues who was known for his amazing speed
- read more about Cool Papa and other Negro League baseball greats in Kadir Nelson's beautiful book, We Are the Ship
- watch a solo sing-a-long living room version of the tune here
- appears on Strange Dees, Indeed

Brooklyn by Bike
- a song about biking around Brooklyn by myself and on trips with my kids
- appears on S.S. Brooklyn, my solo sing-a-long album that's coming out this September.

Standing in the Garden / Visions
- written with a 4th grader for an event at the Met Museum. the song was inspired by Bastien-Lepage's  painting of Joan of Arc
- read more about Joan of Arc in Diane Stanley's cool book
- slated to appear on the Deedle Deedle Dees' next album (coming out, we hope, spring 2014)

Seventeen Years (a cicada love song)
- inspired by the seventeen-year cicadas that have come out this spring and summer
- watch a video of the tune here
- read more about cicadas on the fabulous website, Cicada Mania
- appears on S.S. Brooklyn, my solo sing-a-long album that's coming out this September.

Henry (Hudson), How Ya Gonna Find a Way?
- a song about the real explorer Henry Hudson that also references the fictional Henrik Hudson who appears in Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle
- sing along with me on this backyard video
- appears on Strange Dees, Indeed. Also an acoustic sing-a-long version will be on S.S. Brooklyn (Sept 2013).

Skating in Old Bryant Park
- a song that ponders: "What if the statue of William Cullen Bryant (for whom NYC's Bryant Park is named) got up and starting ice skating with everyone else one winter?
- appears on Strange Dees, Indeed

Marie Curie
- a scientist who did some of the early experiments with radium and other dangerous materials, Marie Curie is someone we admire quite a bit.
- this graphic novel about MC and her husband should be on your coffee table.
- appears on Strange Dees, Indeed

Sacagawea
- inspired by the woman who accompanied Lewis & Clark across the country, translating for them and helping them in many other ways. and with a baby on her back.
- i still haven't found a great kid book about her but this one is interesting
- appears on Strange Dees, Indeed

Baldy
- Baldy was General George Meade's horse in the Civil War. he got shot 14 times and lived. we thought he deserved a rousing hip hop anthem.
- appears on Freedom in a Box

The Brooklyn Bridge Song
- a song about a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge with my daughter, the history of building the bridge, and my meditations on death and time passing
- appears on American History + Rock-n-Roll = The Deedle Deedle Dees

Music in schools panel at KindieFest

Here's who's on it. I'll post more details later.

Lloyd H. Miller
moderator
For 10 years, Lloyd (leader of the educational band, the Deedle Deedle Dees) has worked as a teaching artist in public and private schools in New York City and elsewhere. His specialty is creating original musical productions with students. He has co-written and performed shows featuring all-original music based on classic literature like Hamlet, The Aeneid, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Myth of Osiris, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He's also done a number of shows inspired by the curriculum of a particular class or school like The Truth About New Jersey (a song cycle about the history of the state written with fourth graders) and Who Stole the Sousaphone? (a whodunnit developed with an entire second grade that incorporated student research about their hometown, Port Washington, Long Island).

Lloyd is currently in final rehearsals for a 6th, 7th, and 8th grade production of Moliere's The Imaginary Invalid. Re-imagined as a 1950s musical, the show features all brand-new songs composed by Lloyd and the kids. He's also working on a show based on The Araboolies of Liberty Street with his wife's second-grade class, a grown-up jazz musical about the foreclosure crisis in America called Trashed Out with jazz legend Roy Nathanson, and a sing-a-long album with producer Dean Jones tentatively titled S.S. Brooklyn.
Hear second graders sing the songs they wrote with Lloyd for Hamlet here: http://lloydmiller.bandcamp.com/album/hamlet-the-album
www.lloydhmiller.com
www.thedeedledeedledees.com
roynathanson.tumblr.com


Patricia Shih
For the past 27 years Patricia has offered up to 18 assembly concerts for grades pre-K through 6 (and sometimes 7 & 8) based on "Big Ideas!" themes.  "BI" is the umbrella title for all 18 shows, because every song in every show is about an important issue such as Bullies, Character Education, The Environment, Multiculturalism, Disabilities and more.  She offers 5 workshops and 2 residencies, where in the latter she helps the kids write a musical and then produce it for the entire school or community.  The workshops range from songwriting to Chinese culture.

A multi-instrumentalist, Ms. Shih plays 6 and 12 string guitars, piano, Marxophone, Chinese flower drum, and soprano recorder. She has six albums to her credit: two for adults, "Woman With One Closed Eye" (Glass Records) and "Leap of Faith" (Flying Fish Records); and four family/children's albums, "Your ImaginEngine!,""The Power of One" (NAPPA Gold Award & Parents' Choice Approved Award), "Big Ideas!" and "Making Fun!"(1997 Parents Choice Approval Award) on Glass Records. Her work is also included on three anthology albums: "Sharing Thoughts," "Early Ears" (Zoom Express, BMG), and "Rainbow Sign" (Rounder Records), which was honored by the American Library Association Notable Children's Recording Award, Parents' Choice Award, Parents' Prize, NAAPA Gold Medal, and the L.A. Times "Best of 1993" list. She is the author of two books about music: Gigging: A Practical Guide for Musicians (Allworth Press, NYC) and Truly Rotten Gigs from Hell: The Funny, The Sad, The Unbelievably Bad True Tales from the Music Trenches (Uncommon Publishing, Xlibris)
http://www.patriciashih.com/


Robbie Kumalo
Robbi Hall Kumalo is an artist with an incredible voice with tons of charisma and charm to win over any audience. Robbi started in the music business singing with a host of legendary artists including Aretha Franklin, Eileen Ivers, Arif Mardin, Jewel, Diana Ross, Jimmy Owens, Ashford & Simpson, Edie Brickell, Chieli Minucci, Gino Sitson, Bakithi Kumalo, John Hiatt, Chaka Khan, Rod Stewart, Mary J. Blige, and Harry Belafonte among many others. Bringing to the stage a level of excitement, Robbi gives to her audiences freely and unselfishly. Her band members are versatile and extraordinary players, who have performed with many music legends themselves. Robbi's personable demeanor is the essence of her show; first going deep into her own zone then pouring it all out in song. Robbi's larger than life stage presence and enticingly beautiful voice have given her the opportunity to perform in many settings, always with great success.

In addition, Robbi is very passionate about arts education and has spent nearly 25 years classrooms in schools all over the globe as Teaching Artist for Aesthetic Education.  Using music and theater arts as a mode of communication to teach everything from the sciences, to history, to culture, and to character, Robbi truly has found her calling by combining her ease of performance with her love to nurture young minds.  She is a teaching artist with New Jersey PAC and The Tilles Center.  Whether a school assembly, artist residency, or professional development workshop, Robbi has a lot to offer!
http://www.robbikumalo.com/fr_home.cfm



Uncle Devin
"I have been performing children's music for over 10 years and, most recently, have been selected as an artist with the Young Audiences/Arts for Learning - Maryland (YAMD) for the 2013-2015 school years.  YAMD is Maryland's leader in Arts-in-Education programs in the state.  I have primarily performed workshops and assemblies, but can also conduct residencies as well.  In addition to the schools, I have found great teaching opportunities performing at numerous summer camps, day care centers and libraries as well.

The Uncle Devin Show takes students on a magical journey through the Land of Percussion, allowing them to hear, see, and play different percussion instruments while gaining an understanding of the history of percussion and why it is the easiest, oldest, and most diverse form of musical creativity.  I can conduct the show solo, but most of the time, I use the assistance of my flute playing sidekick Mr. Grasshopper.  Together, we will have students bouncing to different genres of music while showing them how percussion is the heartbeat of them all.  Professionally, I am an Equal Opportunity and Dispute Resolution trainer, investigator and counselor, working in both the public and private sector for over 18 years.  I transfer these same techniques to my music to teach the value of diversity, self-identity and respect."
- Uncle Devin
http://theuncledevinshow.com/