From Children's Songs to Rap

I have been doing school presentations for years, but my children were in college by the time I started, so neither of them has ever seen me in a classroom. That was changed last week when my son Johnny, who is 21 and a junior at Ithaca College School of Music (where I went!) came to see me present my books at a third grade classroom in White Plains, N.Y. It was fun to get his insights into what I do and, because he is a music education major and spends a lot of time with kids, I was able to get his input on things that went well and which could have gone better. I sing a song with the younger kids in grades K-2 and he had an idea for a rap song for the older grades. We wrote it together so here for the first time is the Reading and Writing Rap!

The Reading and Writing Rap by Johnny and Tish Rabe

When you get an idea don't try and reject it
You can write a story when you least expect it
Write down your ideas there's no right or wrong
You can write a story, a book or a song
Keep reading and writing and when you do
You'll find out you're a writer too

From Then 'Til Now: Reaching the 90th Book

Today I turned in the manuscript for my 90th children's book and I'm really looking forward to hitting the 100 mark! Last month I was in Tennessee talking to a group of kids in my power point presentation I show a picture of me in high school (yes that's me!) and tell the kids that when I got out of high school I had no idea I would become a children's book author- I actually wanted to become a singer. I went to college in the 70's and back then people didn't seem to worry too much about how anyone was going to get a job when they got out. My parents never really seemed concerned about how my degree in Vocal Performance from Ithaca College School of Music would exactly lead to a position with a salary and benefits. But somehow things did work out, and recently I've started singing to the kids and teachers who seem to get a kick out of it. I also recently discovered that Sesame Street has put a lot of their segments on YouTube so I typed in "Swamp Mushy Muddy" and there I was performing as the singing voice for a back-up muppet in a song by Oscar the Grouch. Not exactly the way I thought I'd break into show business when I got out of college, but you've got to start somewhere. Check it out below!