Tag Archives: #kidslisten

Bluebullet to the Rescue – Huzzah! – interview with author Dr. Drew Palacio

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Huzzah! as Bluebullet likes to say! On this episode we share our interview with Dr. Drew Palacio, author of “Shrieks and Sounds and Things Abound – the Quiet Wants of Julien J.” a fun-filled book of wordplay and nonsense, replete with Superhero advice for times of frustration, from Bluebullet himself – Huzzah! We also got the chance to share Dr. Drew’s book with some of the students at Camelview Elementary School in Phoenix, Arizona and to record a few of their voices during their superhero night.

Shrieks and Sounds and Things Abound can be found on most online booksellers, such as Amazon or Barnes and Noble
Shrieks and Sounds and Things Abound is a Mom’s Choice Award and Pen Craft Award winner.

Be sure to stay tuned for Dr. Drew’s next book titled, “Troubles and Doubles and Reflections Askew – the Curious Case of the Two Emily Sues”! Here is a sneak peak at a couple of illustrations for his next book!

Dr. Drew

More art by illustrator Apolline Etienne

Thanks for this episode go out to Dr. Drew Palacio, Camelview librarian Savannah Tranguch, and all of the students who stopped by to share a story or tell us about their favorite superhero. A special thanks to students Ellie, Levi, Melany, Romel, Max and Grant for welcoming us to the show and sharing their frustrations. And thanks to all of the students who told us about their favorite superheroes.

SFX from Zapsplat

The Scariest Story You’ve Ever Heard – interview with author Ron Keres

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To kick off the Halloween season we have an interview with Ron Keres, author of “The Scariest Story You’ve Ever Heard“, a Reader’s Choice Book Award Gold winner. The coolest thing about Ron’s story is that he tells it without any pictures…just spooooooooky onomatopoeia words!!! So… let’s set sail in our sieve to meet Ron Keres, hear an excerpt from his book, and have a little wordplay fun by making our own spooky onomatopoeia sounds….oh, and don’t worry, if you have little ones who scare easily, this story isn’t too scary!

Halloween Onomatopoeia Wordplay Fun

Thanks to Buttons & Figs kids Owen, Graham, Emma and Gracie for their onomatopoeia wordplay and art!

You can also find The Scariest Story You’ve Ever Heard at the following locations: Target / Walmart / Barnes & Noble

EmOcean Play with Venus Underwater author Julia Hengst

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On this episode we get to sail to the land of Mermaidia! Which means you’ll get to hear our interview with author Julia Hengst where she tells us all about the wordplay filled mermaid world she created called Mermaidia. You’ll learn about her new book Venus Underwater: Songs from Mermaidia and how mermaids use song, dance, and wordplay which can help you sort through your emOceans. You’ll also get to hear some of the wonderful music that will bring this world to life. And, as always, we have a couple of Buttons & Figs kids who were inspired by Julia’s mermaid world, who will show us their ways to wordplay….so let’s get started…

To learn more visit Venus and Her Fly Trip

To learn more, visit Julia Hengst: venusandherflytrip.net
Illustrations by Ester Samuals-Davis: dirtyliketheweeds.com
Music by Rachel Panni and Alison Balano: NightskyMind.com

Buttons & Figs kids: Brianna and Ariyah
SFX by Zapsplat
Interview recorded via Zoom
Created and produced by Pamela Rogers
Mastered by Blaise Collins

Activity Book Nonsense – New Album and Interview with comedy musician Mike Phirman

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Do you like to say the words, Activity Books? Do you like all the puzzles and games found in Activity Books? Then you’ll love comedy musician Mike Phirman‘s new album titled, “Activity Books“. In this episode you’ll get to hear one of the songs from his new EP, “Word Search/Vacuum”, featuring the voice of Weird Al Yankovich; you’ll also get to hear our funny and fabulous interview with Mike about how he became famous and about his unfortunate experience with a vacuum; and, you’ll hear from two Buttons & Figs kids, Olivia and Sophia, who were inspired to make a word search of their own (see below)!

New episode featuring Mike Phirman and a song from his new album

You can learn more about Mike Phirman’s work and find all the ways to purchase the Activity Books EP at his website: mikephirman.com

Be sure to subscribe to Mike Phirman’s YouTube Channel to see these and all of his wacky videos, including the connect-the-dots project he mentioned in the episode!

A few of our Buttons & Figs kids were inspired to create their own word search activity after listening to this fabulous album. Click on the image to print and do the word search!

Olivia’s Wild Word Search
Sophia’s Word Search
Great kids podcast created by Drennon Davis & Mike Phirman

Thanks for this episodes go out to Buttons & Figs kids Olivia, Sophia and friends, Beth Blenz-Clucas at Sugar Mountain PR, UofA Librarian Intern Anna Ferguson and comedy musician Mike Phirman.

Word Search/Vacuum and song excerpts from the Activity Books album used with permission from the artist.

Sound FX from Zapsplat

Encore: #36 – War of the Fools

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Encore: Once again…Nonsense appeared to be on a collision course with reason…presenting Buttons & Figs and the Oyster Actors on the Air in The War of the Fools. It was on this day, April 1st, in which weird happenings began to happen. Reporters began to report reportable events, reportable strange happenings, reportable odd sightings – a meat shower, a weird alphabet song, odd creatures sailing in a sieve making demands…what if it were all true?! Featuring voices from the pod-o-sphere, including The Past & The Curious, Composer Dad, and What If World. Tune in to Buttons & Figs to find out what the reporters are reporting this April Fool’s day. btw…does anyone have any stilton cheese?! Take care out there.