Don't Miss: Authors Launch Kids' Books on Pete Seeger, Billie Holiday at Voracious Reader

LARCHMONT, NY — Two new picture books by Westchester authors may help parents who want to explain to kids the meaning of concepts like democracy, freedom and equality — and both are being launched Saturday afternoon at the Voracious Reader.

The two are award-winning author Susanna Reich’s Stand Up and Sing! Pete Seeger, Folk Music and the Path to Justice; and New York Times-bestselling author Gary Golio’s Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song.

Stand Up and Sing! (Bloomsbury, March features art by Adam Gustavson and a foreword by legendary singer-songwriter Peter Yarrow.

Strange Fruit (Millbrook Press, February) is illustrated by Charlotte Riley-Webb.

Reich and Golio, who grew up in the Rivertowns and have been Ossining residents for 36 years, will launch their books about music and social justice at local independent bookstores.

Friday, 7:30 p.m. — The Village Bookstore in Pleasantville

Saturday, 2 p.m. — The Voracious Reader in Larchmont

Stand Up and Sing! Illustrator Adam Gustavson will join the authors at the Village Bookstore. The events, which will feature readings, signings, live music and sing-alongs, are free and recommended for ages 6 and up.

Stand Up and Sing! is the first-ever picture book biography of Pete Seeger, one of the twentieth century’s leading advocates for human rights. Pete, a longtime Beacon resident, dedicated his life to bringing people together through song. Surrounded by music from an early age, he discovered the banjo as a teenager and soon put its rhythms to work. Moved by the suffering he witnessed during the Great Depression, he sang in support of workers’ rights and racial equality. During the McCarthy Era he went from the bestseller list to the blacklist, displaying extraordinary courage in the face of power and injustice.

With songs like “Turn, Turn, Turn,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and “If I Had a Hammer,” Pete sowed the seeds of the 1960s folk revival, and as an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War, took President Lyndon Johnson to task. A founder of the sloop Clearwater, he helped spearhead the environmental movement and clean up the Hudson River.

Stand Up and Sing! shows how music and political activism can walk hand-in-hand, and how Pete set a timely example for young people to speak up and speak out. Booklist says that it “will surely help a new generation understand his fervor and still-relevant message.”

In Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song, Golio tells the story of a young jazz singer who put her life and career on the line by debuting a song for which she'd be insulted, assaulted, and spat upon. Strange Fruit, written by Bronx schoolteacher Abel Meeropol, was a haunting piece of music about a horrifying subject—lynching. When asked by Barney Josephson—owner of a new nightclub in New York City open to both white and black customers—to sing it, Billie Holiday was at first unsure. But when she witnessed its effect at a Harlem party firsthand, she agreed to perform Strange Fruit at Barney's club. From that night on, Billie's life would never be the same.

Hearing Billie sing Strange Fruit in 1939 left audiences stunned, speechless, angry, confused …and inspired. While radio stations refused to air it at the time, the record sold more than a million copies and became Billie's signature song. Named "Best Song of the Century" by TIME magazine in 1999, it holds an honored place in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.

Golio, who is known for tackling controversial subjects, weaves a story about the power of art to influence hearts and minds, and to effect social change. Riley-Webb's vibrant illustrations complement the powerful poetry of the text, adding movement and evoking a jazz-like excitement.

Learn more about these two local authors:

www.susannareich.com

• Stand Up and Sing! Pete Seeger, Folk Music and the Path to Justice (Bloomsbury, March 2017)
• Fab Four Friends: The Boys Who Became the Beatles (Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt, 2015)
• Grace and Sylvie: A Recipe for Family (American Girl e-book, 2015)
• Minette’s Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat (Abrams, 2012)
• Painting the Wild Frontier: The Art and Adventures of George Catlin (Clarion, 2008)
• Jose! Born to Dance: The Story of Jose Limon (Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster, 2005)

www.garygolio.com

• Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song (Millbrook/Lerner, 2017)
• Bird & Diz – Two Friends Create Bebop (Candlewick, 2015)
• Spirit Seeker – John Coltrane's Musical Journey (Clarion, 2012)
• When Bob Met Woody – The Story of the Young Bob Dylan (Little, Brown, 2011)
• JIMI: Sounds Like A Rainbow – A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix (Clarion, 2010)

PHOTO/ Laurel Golio