Bill Harley—Live: Yes to Running!

Winner of a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for Children, author and NPR commentator Bill Harley is featured in this June 2007 family-friendly concert performed at the University of Montana Missoula. Playing his acoustic guitar on a minimal stage, Harley takes an interactive approach on tunes such as “I Like to Sing” (in which children in the audience are instructed to poke accompanying adults if they don't join in), the catchy “Is Not Is Too” with ASL cues, the clap-along “You're in Trouble,” and the finale “Echo.” Harley also shares childhood stories about “The Great Sled Race,” a dreaded substitute teacher in “Mrs. Ammons and the Boys' Room,” and “The Teacher's Lounge” (where, as a young messenger, Harley says he once opened a note that said “send him somewhere else”), as well as the entertaining sibling rivalry poem “The Ballad of Dirty Joe.” Other tunes such as “Grownups Are Strange” and “Mom and the Radio” highlight the funny facets of the generation gap. DVD extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette and an interview with Harley. Recommended. Aud: P. (J. Williams-Wood)