Prokofiev, Conflicted: Great Composer or Great Compromiser?

SERGEI PROKOFIEV was a great composer, but was he also a great compromiser when it came to bowing to the demands of the Soviet regime, which viewed him as a threat to the people?
by David McGee
 

 
 

Bully: A Visit with Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Pictured above is an early image from Caldecott Honor medalist Laura Vaccaro Seeger’s Bully, released in July from Neal Porter/Roaring Brook. A little birdie (named Neal Porter, in fact) told me months ago that Laura created ...
by David McGee
 

 

 

For the Lost Children of Chile

NIÑOS: POEMS FOR THE LOST CHILDREN OF CHILE offers 'a powerful reflection on political violence in the lives of children,' as JULES explains in this month's featured book for young readers.
by David McGee
 

 
 

It’s All Too Beautiful: Nellie McKay Sounds Off on…Everything

NELLIE MCKAY is never at a loss for words--about animals, the '60s, her new album (MY WEEKLY READER)--and she told it as it is in a lively TALKING ANIMALS interview with DUNCAN STRAUSS
by David McGee
 

 

 

Strengthening the Sustainable Agriculture Message

Crafting an inclusive message to promote agriculture that is environmentally sound, profitable and supports communities was the goal of the workshop "Building Capacity and the Voice for a Stronger Sustainable Agriculture Moveme...
by David McGee
 

 
 

ROCK, ROCK, ROCK! (1956)

ROCK, ROCK, ROCK! Yes, it has Cirino & the Bowties but it also has CHUCK BERRY, LAVERN BAKER, THE FLAMINGOS and other '50s greats, plus TEDDY RANDAZZO and, in her first film, 13-year-old TUESDAY WELD
by David McGee
 

 

 

A Tortured Chronicle: Severn Documents Keats’s Last Days

As JOHN KEATS lay dying in 1821, he only companion was JOSEPH SEVERN, who in letters to the Keats circle chronicled the consumptive poet's torturous final days.
by David McGee
 

 
 

100 Years Later: Fort Sill Apache Still Fighting to Return to Homelands

March 7 marked the 100th anniversary of the release from prisoner of war status of the Chiricahua-Warm Springs Apache Tribe, aka the FORT SILL APACHE TRIBE. Now the tribe is hoping to reclaim its ancient homeland in New Mexico....
by David McGee
 

 

 

Christmas As He Knew It

JOHNNY CASH's CLASSIC CHRISTMAS ALBUM is a sampling from the three Yule albums the Man in Black recorded for Columbia Records. Family and faith are the major, moving themes here.
by David McGee
 

 
 

From Advent to Epiphany

Classical editor ROBERT HUGILL rounds up the best in Classical Christmas albums for 2016.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Still, Still, Still

An 18-song CD sampling of a great Christmas anthology series (from Goodyear Tire) once on vinyl only
by David McGee
 

 
 

Let’s Hear It For The Girls

Considering memorable holiday fare from EDIE ADAMS and DORIS DAY
by David McGee