Best Things to Do with Kids in Brooklyn - November 2011
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Brooklyn Children's Museum, 145 Brooklyn Avenue, Crown Heights. 718-735-4400. www.brooklynkids.org.
Dance, songs, and drums figure large in Native American culture, and the Red Hook Dance Troupe combines all three in its performance of ceremonial and social songs and dance. November 10. 10:15am and 12:15pm. $7.
Kumble Theater at Long Island University, One University Plaza at Flatbush Avenue, Fort Greene. 718-522-4696. www.kumbletheater.org.
Keller Guitar
Keller Williams is a six-string virtuoso who's established his niche as a sort of one-man band. Normally he combines a distinctively staccato attack with styles that touch upon rock, reggae, electronica, jazz, and funk, and are often improvised-the kind of groovy stuff that has young adults in tie-dye and dreadlocks grooving like it's 1967. But these days Williams is exploring the kids' music scene, touring behind a children's record called, simply enough, Kids. The album is rife with bluegrass-inspired music, mega guitar chops, and lyrical content that doubles as humor and lessons in life. Among the choice cuts are "Take a Bath," "Car Seat," and "Because I Said So" (the latter also a Williams-penned children's book), all of which reveal that Williams knows the parenting road firsthand. November 19. 10:30am. $20 at the door; $15 in advance.
Brooklyn Bowl, 61 Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg. 718-963-3369. www.brooklynbowl.com.
Books of Wonder
Storytellers such as Maurice Sendak, William Steig, Ezra Jack Keats-all Brooklyn born and bred-complement their greatness as storytellers with illustrations and collage that deserve recognition as fine art. The Brooklyn Museum embraces the entire book with its fifth annual Children's Book Fair, where children can mingle with acclaimed local writers, among them Kate Hosford (Back to School) and John Rocco (Blackout); plus hear these authors and more than 30 others present read-alouds and sign copies of their books. The museum's Rubin Pavilion, on the first floor, has been transformed for the occasion and, of course, every book can be purchased. Games and food are also available, and there will be a performance of Prokofiev's interpretation of the folk tale Peter and the Wolf by the Brooklyn Conservatory Community Orchestra, plus some comedic theater by the Maestrosities. November 19. 12-4pm. All ages. $10; $6 students and seniors; free children younger than 12.
Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights. 718-638-5000. www.brooklynmuseum.org.
Electric Avenue
Subway performers are a varied lot; in my many years in New York City, I have seen the kid who banged on compound buckets wind up in a Mariah Carey video and watched a hobo-ish character pour his soul into his slide guitar. Roger G. truly deserves to be part of the MTA's Arts for Transit project, in which the agency sponsors genuine talent and allows them to busk. Roger, for his part, has combined mime and dance into Get Electric with Roger G., an energetic show that grooves and moves with a celebration of force and motion. November 19. 1:30pm. All ages. $7; $5 children and seniors.
New York Transit Museum, Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street. 718-964-1600. www.mta.info/museum.
