Joseph P. O'Brien

In late 2017, I started doing a program called “Musical Storytime” at the Livingston Public Library. It’s a half-hour program where I sing songs and read music-themed books for young children.

Due to the pandemic, our library is closed indefinitely, but we’re still hard at work serving our patrons through the internet. I’ve been recording video installments of “Musical Storytime” and posting them to our library’s YouTube channel (which has scores of great videos for viewers of all ages). Here’s a playlist of the videos I’ve done so far, with more still to come (perhaps even after the pandemic dies down).

“Lookin’ Out My Back Door” (cover of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song)

“Purple Coyote” (musical version of a book written by Jean-Luc Cornette & illustrated by Jean-Marc Rochette)

“Stand” (cover of the R.E.M. song, with a lesson in directions, and a guest appearance by my wife Ashley)

“Take It Easy” (cover of the Caspar Babypants song, with ukulele, maracas, piano, drum, and guitar)

“Over in the Meadow” (the counting rhyme by Olive Wadsworth, with illustrations by Ezra Jack Keats, and another guest appearance by Ashley)

“Music Is…” (reading of the book written by Brandon Stosuy, and illustrated by Amy Martin, showing the many qualities music can have, with a soundtrack featuring Bach, Bjork, Zeppelin, Queen, and much more)

“We Are Music” (another book written by Brandon Stosuy, illustrated by Nick Radford, teaching the evolution of musical genres across human existence, with a soundtrack featuring Little Richard, the Ramones, Beyonce, and much more)

“Weirdos of the World Unite!” (song with lyrics from a poem written by Rhett Miller, with illustrations by Dan Santat, from their book NO MORE POEMS!)

“Pokko and the Drum” (reading of the book by Matthew Forsythe)

“Noise Day” (hard-rocking rendition of the poem written & illustrated by Shel Silverstein, from the book FALLING UP)

“Jabberwocky” (performance of Lewis Carroll’s classic poem, illustrated by Christopher Myers)