The Not-Its Rock and Read at the Soup

Thanks to everyone who came out to dance to five-piece local band The Not-Its a coupla Saturdays ago.

The music was awesome, the energy was high, and the kids were working up a sweat. In between songs, a lucky audience member got to pick the next tune by lottery. Before starting the song, kids had a breather, and the sixth band member read a portion of a story from a ginormous book especially written for Alphabet Soup and this very special concert day.

Very warm thanks to all the members of The Not-Its for putting on such a great show!

Come See the Not-Its Live This Saturday!

Stop by Saturday at 11 a.m. for a Not-Its in-store live, free performance!

Music, refreshments, and fun!

Recess Monkey Rocks the Soup!

Special thanks to Recess Monkey, who kicked off the hottest weekend of the year back in August. There was standing-room-only-outside-on-the-sidewalk as the band played a special Unplugged set for their dancing fans.

And special thanks also to Trophy Cupcakes, who provided treats.

Penguins are on the March!

You may have already noticed if you've strolled through Wallingford recently. We have our very own Penguin! Well, it's just a guest for now. Our penguin's name is "Ice Cube" and it was decorated by students at Lake Union Preschool.

Woodland Park Zoo has a new penguin exhibit, and to celebrate they've sent five-dozen penguin statues marching through Wallingford, Ballard, Fremont, and Greenwood-Phinney.

There are two auctions open to the public. Both are during the Greenwood-Phinney Art Walk -- ony on August 14th at the Greenwood Collective; the other on September 11 at the Piper Village Grand Opening.

Check out the website for the full story. Study the map and plan your own penguin tour!

The Blueberry Pie Elf

The latest book to be brought back from the rare and collectible bookshelves by Purple House Press is Jane Thayer's "The Blueberry Pie Elf." Originally published in 1959, the copyright was renewed in 1987, but the book has been difficult to find until being republished this year.

Jane Thayer was the pen name of Catherine Woolley. She wrote more than 80 books for children. Her first book, "I Like Trains," was published in 1944, and her last children's book was released in 1989. Seymour Fleishman's charming illustrations are perfect for this wonderful story about how an elf who loves pie -- but, take note -- only BLUEBERRY PIE -- does all he can think of when the cherry and apple pies start coming. Fleishman, who turned 90 last year, illustrated more than 50 books for children between 1953 and 1989. Fleishman and Woolley also collaborated on the "Gus the Friendly Ghost" series.

Caspar Babypants Rocks the Soup!

Thanks to everyone who came out to see Caspar Babypants and his accompaniest on percussion, Fred Babyshirt! Caspar played songs from his debut, "Here I am" and some new tunes that'll be appearing on his next release, already in the planning stages. All the songs were crowd pleasers, but two favorites were "Fuzzy Wuzzy" with new verses about various animal friends, and a very nice version of PUSA's "Kitty," which had the grown-ups and kids rocking. Also worth note was "Little Broken Truck" for which Caspar (who is really Chris Ballew) was joined by his daughter Josie & everyone in the audience joined in. A rockin', rollin' time was had by all. Thanks, Caspar!
If you missed out, it's not too late to check out the music & schedule for future shows. "Here I Am" is also available for $10 at Alphabet Soup Children's Books.

Caspar Babypants LIVE at Alphabet Soup Saturday May 16th at 1:00 p.m.!

Caspar Babypants (aka Chris Ballew of The Presidents of the United States of America) will be performing LIVE at Alphabet Soup on May 16th at 1:00 p.m. Caspar will be singing catchy tunes from his debut release, Here I Am! Fun for everyone. See you there!