David Eugene Ray will be selling and signing copies of his award-winning book, The Little Mouse Santi, at the New Orleans Baby & Child Fest on October 1st from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Pontchartrain Center. Look for him at the Confetti Park exhibitor booth. We will also be selling copies of our Parents’ Choice Award-winning CD, We’re Going to Confetti Park!, and taking pre-order for our newest children’s book, Candy Land Ball.
The Little Mouse Santi is a Moonbeam Award winner, a recipient of the prestigious gold Mom’s Choice Award, the coveted Kirkus star and was named one of the Best Books of 2015 by Kirkus Reviews! It was illustrated by Santiago Germano.
Get an autographed copy for a discounted price at the New Orleans Baby & Child Fest, a fantastic annual event offering great deals and family fun for moms and dads, expectant parents, grandparents and children from babies to middle school.
Learn, Shop & Play with 100 vendors from birthing to boutiques to party places. Take a break with your kids in the kids zone with inflatables, face painting, art & lego workshops, photo booth, a toddler play area and more. Learn more at http://www.neworleansbabyfest.com/
Enjoy free shipping & 20% off children’s books and CDs from the Confetti Park workshop, created right here in New Orleans. Use code ‘nolakids’ when you order directly through Confetti Park at confettipark.com/shop.
New Orleans kids’ choir director launches Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for a children’s book and song called “Candy Land Ball”
What:Candy Land Ball, a children’s book (36 pages) about a magical night at the ball, written in rhyming verse and beautifully illustrated by watercolor artist Emanuela Serafina. It comes with piano sheet music and a download code for the song performed by Katy Hobgood Ray & the Confetti Park Players. The book is being pre-sold book on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo to cover production and printing costs. The author’s goal is to raise $3000 in pre-sales.
When: The crowdfunding campaign runs from September 25-November 24, 2016. Autographed books and CDs and other perks will be shipped to supporters in the first week of December 2016.
Where: Four special packages are available for sale at https://igg.me/at/candylandball/x/11554329. Packages range from $15-$100, and include perks such as autographed books, CDs, musical toys, and gourmet candy gift baskets.
Why: The Candy Land Ball story book is the follow-up to the recorded song from the Parents’ Choice® Award-winning children’s music album, We’re Going to Confetti Park!featuring Katy Hobgood Ray & the Confetti Park Players. The story was inspired by an annual event that raises funds for parks and children’s programming in Algiers Point for 501(c)3 Confetti Kids, Inc. A portion of proceeds from the campaign will go to Confetti Kids, Inc., an organization for which Katy has volunteered for four years. This is the second children’s book from Confetti Park. The first, The Little Mouse Santi, was named a Best Book of 2015 by Kirkus Reviews and won a Moonbeam Award and Gold Mom’s Choice Award.
Learn more at confettipark.com. Media members, please email for inquiries or call 504-650-1238.
The newest book from Confetti Park is called Candy Land Ball! Inspired by real events and a song, this children’s book has been beautifully illustrated and is ready for print. We are taking pre-orders now through Indiegogo, and it will be shipped in time for the holidays!
The song “Candy Land Ball,” which is on our first CD, was inspired by an annual event in my neighborhood. The Candy Land Ball is a magical children’s ball that raises funds for parks and children’s programming in Algiers Point for 501(c)3 Confetti Kids, Inc. I have volunteered for this organization for four years, and today, I am the president! A portion of proceeds from the campaign will go to Confetti Kids, Inc.
The song, with scenes of rock candy mountains and lollipop trees, was just begging to be illustrated. This will be the second children’s book I have published from my little workshop in New Orleans. The first, written by David Eugene Ray, is called The Little Mouse Santi. It won several awards and was named by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Indie Books of 2015! What an honor.
What We Need & What You Get
The Candy Land Ball has been beautifully illustrated by watercolor artist Emanuela Serafina, and it is ready to print! In order to cover production costs and print 500 copies, I need to raise $3000 in pre-sales. I have created several packages for my Indiegogo supporters. Among the perks:
An autographed book, the Candy Land Ball, with piano sheet music and a download code for the song. Autographed by me, Katy Hobgood Ray.
The CD We’re Going to Confetti Park!, with 21 tracks of magical songs and jumprope jingles featuring a kids chorus and a star-studded lineup of New Orleans musicians. This CD won a Parents’ Choice® Award and includes the song “Candy Land Ball.”
An autographed copy of The Little Mouse Santi, our first children’s book, which won a Moonbeam Award, a Mom’s Choice Award, and was named by Kirkus Reviews as A Best Indie Book of 2015. Autographed by author David Eugene Ray. (Listen for the track “Dream Big, Little Santi” on the CD!)
For top level supporters, a splendid gourmet candy gift basket—the stuff of the sweetest dreams at the Candy Land Ball!
10% of every transaction on Indiegogo will be donated to the nonprofit 501(c)3 Confetti Kids, Inc. I have been a passionate volunteer for this grassroots volunteer organization ever since my son was born.
Thank you for your support!
I am so grateful to you for supporting the Candy Land Ball storybook! I hope you love your perks, the music and the stories. Please help me get the word out about this campaign if you know someone who would enjoy them, too.
Connect with me on Facebook. I’ll keep you updated on my progress!
The cover story for this issue is on Dav Pilkey, author of the beloved Adventures of Captain Underpants series, one of the most popular series of books written for elementary-school aged children. There is also a profile on children’s author and illustrator Liz Pichon, creator of the popular Tom Gates series, and on Linda Dennis, founder of the Team Backpack Journalists program.
The article on Katy was written by Melissa Fales.
“As the host and producer of the New Orleans-based Confetti Park children’s radio show and director of the Confetti Park Players children’s chorus, Katy Hobgood Ray pays homage to the music and culture of her beloved home state of Louisiana. Both projects allow Ray to share her vast musical knowledge and songwriting talent with children and adults alike.”
Thank you so much for the wonderful support, to writer Melissa and to Editor-in-Chief, Cristy Bertini!
Story Monsters Ink is a free, subscription-based magazine that gives parents and educators the latest news about award-winning and debut books, profiles on both renowned and newly published authors, upcoming book events, author presentations and more.
This mural was recently discovered while replacing the air conditioning system on the third floor of Byrd High. (Photo: Douglas Collier, The Times)
Here’s a special find! The Shreveport Times just ran a featured article on the uncovering of a “hidden treasure” at C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport, Louisiana. A forgotten mural by our very own The Little Mouse Santi author David Eugene Ray!
“When David Ray graduated from C.E. Byrd High School in 1978 he left behind a treasure, a mural full of cartoon characters, hidden from the public eye for more than 35 years.Hamm Mechanical found the mural while replacing the air conditioning system in early June, said President William Hamm. Read the article
Perhaps it’s time you illustrated your own book, David Ray!
The Confetti Park Players are a children’s chorus based here in New Orleans. One of our favorite things to do is to collaborate with other musicians who live in this amazing, creative city! We are SO lucky to be surrounded by and nurtured by so much talent.
Our most recent collaboration was with local folk-pop duo Ginger & the Bee (aka Sherri Montz and Scott Frilot). This duo perform around New Orleans and have other musical projects, including the beloved Vinyl Girls, Slack Adjustor, Skin & Bones, and the Tomatoes.
Ginger & the Bee wrote a song specially for the Confetti Park Players—it’s called “Bumblebee.”
Bumblebee, bumblebee, where is your honey? I want some honey for my honey!
Bumblebee, bumblebee, where is your honey? I want some honey for me.
Choir director Katy Ray taught the song to the kids over a few weeks, and one special Wednesday night, Ginger & the Bee came to our practice at Algiers United Methodist Church to record with the kids.
Scott sets up the recording gear for the session.
Lily and Nola do a sound check with Scott. We think he and Sherri enjoyed this as much as the kids!
The Confetti Park Players sing “Bumblebee” with much gusto!
After the recording was over, the kids went outside to play on the grass with Sherri to shoot some playful scenes with scarves.
Scarf attack!
Move back, kids!
Sherri emerges.
A few weeks later, the Confetti Park Players went to the Mini Art Center, a child-centric community arts center located in our very own Algiers Point, to do stop motion animation for the music video. We had such a great time creating this from drawings and recording footage. Molly and Prescott, who run the Mini Art Center, are great teachers.
Prescott gathers the kids around the stop motion center.
The kids draw characters and backgrounds for the music video.
What a fun process! We moved the characters inch by inch for the stop motion animation.
Paul Butler interviews Katy Hobgood Ray on WFDU’s Kids Crossroads
Katy Hobgood Ray spent a lovely hour with Paul Butler of WFDU’s Kids Crossroads and the Imagination Parade (based in the NY/NJ area) talking about the Confetti Park Players, the Confetti Park radio show, and the real park and Louisiana culture which are her inspiration.
Katy loves hosting a radio show for kids down here in Louisiana, which she’s been doing for a year. Paul, meanwhile, has been hosting his shows since 1985!!!!
There is lots of good children’s music to hear in this fun segment, which is archived online. Paul chooses songs from the Confetti Park Players’ CD, We’re Going to Confetti Park!, and pairs them with topical songs by other children’s musicians throughout the United State (and from generations of songwriters). There are songs about watermelons, dancing, peanuts, snoballs, and much more.
The Confetti Park radio show and podcast, hosted by Katy Hobgood Ray, features music and stories spun in Louisiana. It showcases songs that kids love, songs created for kids, and songs created by kids. Sparkling interviews, in-studio performances, delightful music medleys, jokes, local author storytime, and a little surprise lagniappe make for an entertaining show!
Airing on WHYR 96.9 FM in Baton Rouge every Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Here’s the promo!
Kids variety show and podcast out of New Orleans features locally spun children’s music and stories showcasing the diverse cultures and sounds of Louisiana.
On Sunday, July 17 at 11:30 a.m., a children’s radio show called “Confetti Park” will hit the airwaves of Baton Rouge on WHYR 96.9 FM.
“Confetti Park,” hosted by Katy Hobgood Ray of New Orleans, features music and stories spun in Louisiana. There are skits, poems, clapping songs, interviews, studio performances by local musicians, and a weekly story time. A podcast version of the show is available on iTunes.
“Here in Louisiana, music permeates the fabric of our daily lives and kids integrate naturally with our live music scene,” says Ray. “I hope, through Confetti Park, to showcase the diversity and kid-friendliness of our culture, and also, to show that kids music can be really good. A lot of Louisiana music is naturally kids music—danceable and full of whimsy and fun.”
Katy Hobgood Ray is the host and producer of Confetti Park
An announcement on the WHYR website says: “….We could all use some inspiration, imagination, and fun. Luckily, WHYR-LP welcomes Confetti Park, a half-hour of music, stories, poetry, and more starting Sunday, July 17th. Hear Confetti Park on Baton Rouge Community Radio every Sunday at 11:30am, hosted by Katy Ray of New Orleans, for uniquely Louisianian magic that reminds us how wonderful our state can be.”
Ray, who works in communications at Tulane University in New Orleans, has a master’s degree in musicology from Tulane and is a former content producer and host for Red River Radio, an NPR-affiliated public radio network in north Louisiana. She directs a children’s choir in New Orleans called the Confetti Park Players; they won a Parents’ Choice Approved Award for their first album.
With support from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation and Music Rising at Tulane University, Katy traverses the state to unearth music and folktales, local legends and spooky stories, colorful family memories and forgotten histories. For the weekly segment Confetti Park Storytime, she features published children’s authors as well as interviews and encounters with everyday people on the street. Children’s voices are often used to share poems, contemporary jump rope jingles, hand-clapping games and other playground chants.
“Confetti Park” debuted in New Orleans on WHIV in April 2015. It currently airs in Hammond on KSLU and is available to all Louisiana community radio stations.
CONFETTI PARK
Confetti Park is a children’s media workshop in New Orleans. We create books, mobile apps, music, videos, and special events geared toward celebrating and growing the wonder and magic of childhood. For more information, visit https://confettipark.com
I am so excited to debut this gorgeous animated music video for the song “Feufollet”! This features the brilliant artwork of Gustavo Wenzel and Santiago Germano. Santiago is the illustrator of The Little Mouse Santi, the first children’s book from Confetti Park. They have such a magical sensibility!
I hope the music and the legend of the spooky Feufollet enchants listeners everywhere.
– Katy Ray
“Feufollet” is performed by Katy Hobgood Ray & the Confetti Park Players, from the album “We’re Going to Confetti Park!” available on CD & digitally. It was recorded at Marigny Recording Studio by Matt Aguiluz and mastered by Bruce Barielle.
Featuring: Rick G. Nelson, bass; Sarah Quintana, background vocals and fae giggles; Katy Ray, vocals; Tim Robertson, guitar; Dr. Sick, violin, musical saw, toy piano; Dylan Field Turner, broom and other percussion.
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LYRICS:
In a boat, in a swamp, in the darkness
All around you is the night
Creatures jumping, night birds calling
When you see a flickering light
You think it could be a lantern
On some friendly neighbor’s trawl
Or the porch light on a swamp house
But it’s not friendly light at all
Chorus:
Don’t follow the Feufollet
Don’t follow the Feufollet
Lest you both should fade away
Pawpaw gave a warning to me
Don’t follow the Feufollet
Don’t get tricked by those lights in the sky,
They will lead you far astray
The swamp has many dangers
Use your wits, you’ll be OK
Trust the rats, the snakes and the gators
Before you trust the Feufollet
How will I know it Pawpaw?
What shall I do when I see?
When those flickering lights start to call to you
Do not follow, ma cherie.
It’s a will o’ the wisp, a trickster
Gives false comfort in the night
Stay close to the course you know in your heart
Or do not move ’til morning light.
The original Confetti Park, the real park located at the corner of Verret and Pelican streets in the Algiers neighborhood, was recently featured by WDSU news anchor Charles Divins in a special community essay.
The piece highlights the work of local 501(c)3 Confetti Kids, Inc. and how they bring neighbors together through parks, recreation, and child-centered programming. Confetti Kids currently maintains two parks in the Old Algiers neighborhood—Confetti Park and Delcazal Park.
Plans are underway for a third park in a part of the neighborhood that is a park desert. Confetti Kids is fundraising now and will be working with local residents and community leaders including Baakir Tyehimba, owner of Blackstar Books & Caffe, to plan the kind of park it will be. Baakir has long been advocating for recreational spaces for children and is the inspiration for the film The Lot, directed by Russell Blanchard.
Examiner.com has a feature story on Katy Hobgood Ray and Confetti Park, the children’s workshop based in New Orleans. The story, which is a Q&A format with interviewer Erin Rovin, was a great opportunity for Katy to talk about how the idea for Confetti Park came from living in Algiers Point, a place full of children AND creative adults.
“We have so many interesting people in New Orleans and Louisiana, and my neighborhood is a concentration of creative people: puppeteers, musicians, artists, writers, chefs, and children,” Katy said. “I created Confetti Park, the children’s media workshop, to bring together all of these creative people and children for special collaborations and inspirational learning and fun.”
Katy discusses the Confetti Park radio show and podcast, which features Louisiana kids music, stories, and interviews, and talks about the Confetti Park Players kids’ chorus which performs locally, has recorded in studios, and has collaborated with numerous local groups, adult musicians, practices songwriting, choreographs dances, and creates music videos.
In the article Katy also says, “If you are a Louisiana author or musician who’d like to be featured on Confetti Park, I would love to hear from you! I am also always looking for ways to collaborate with children and teachers to get more kids voices on the show, so teachers and other youth leaders, please contact me.”
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David Eugene Ray will be selling and signing copies of his award-winning book, The Little Mouse Santi, at the New Orleans Baby & Child Fest on October 1st from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Pontchartrain Center. Look for him at the Confetti Park exhibitor booth. We will also be selling copies of our Parents’ Choice Award-winning CD, We’re Going to Confetti Park!, and taking pre-order for our newest children’s book, Candy Land Ball.
