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A DUCK IN NEW YORK CITY (2004 Juno Award Winner)
"...if you are a duck in New York City, you do the very best with what you've got. You don't go waddling after dark, you take a taxi to the park, and you find a fire hydrant when it's hot..."
What wouldn't surprise New Yorkers would be seeing a duck waddle down Lexington Avenue -- just because they've seen it all! It wouldn't surprise prairie dwellers either, knowing the idea came from the mind of Connie Kaldor. It all started, according to Connie, with a cab ride in Manhattan about 15 years ago. She noticed someone had left behind, of all things, a rubber duckie in the back seat. Today, we have the children's storybook and CD we're spotlighting, "A Duck In New York City." The entire album was written and performed by Connie (with some help from young-ins named Aleksi and Gabriel, as well as Émilie-Rachel and Thomas Stringer.) Some songs are brand new, some Connie had floating around and finally committed to record, and some have been performed in the past by Heather Bishop on her children's albums, "Bellybutton" (1982) and the original "Duck In New York City" (1990), in which Connie helped out on background vocals and vocal effects. The book features a charming story about a prairie
duck who tries The CD and book are packaged together, but with the exception of the title track, they are exclusive of each other -- the songs do not correlate with the book. An idea might have been to loosely connect the songs as if it were a short musical -- we are talking about New York, after all. As entities on to themselves, however, the book and CD are a blast. If you never heard Heather Bishop's albums, then the singing slugs, waltzing alligators and domestic hippos of "Duck" will be an entirely new experience for you. If you have, then comparisons are inevitable. Connie gave "Seed In The Ground" -- a short lesson on how flowers and plants grow -- a warm, folksy feel compared to Heather's almost-Reggae treatment of the song. And Slug Opera 2003 sounds a lot better without Bishop's digital vocal distortion. On the flip side, nobody can "out-hum" Heather's performance of "The Alligator Waltz." Regardless, the song itself is a funny, quirky nighttime fantasy. The illustrations provided by Fil and Julie should be noted. They are a combination of 3-D caricatures and colorful, clever backgrounds. For example, skyscrapers are depicted as cell phones made out of stock quote pages of newspaper (with one dialed to "911".)
"Duck" makes a great gift for your children and your favorite family with children next door or across the continent. With some help from www.conniekaldorusa.com, can you find where to get "A Duck In New York City?" "Yes you can..."
Click here to purchase Duck from La Montagne Secrete. Click here to purchase Duck from CD Plus. (all prices are in Canadian dollars) Click here to read an interview with Connie about Duck from The Montreal Gazette.
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Well, New Yorkers could quibble over the fact that the city's crime rate
has dropped sharply to the point where NYC is one of the safer cities in the
U.S., and they don't open as many hydrants as they used to for water
conservation. But the other day I heard a New York radio personality refer
to an athlete as being from "Sassaskatoon", so I suppose that evens
things out.
with all his might to travel to New York City to become a star. Will he
get to do his "ducky dance" on Broadway? Connie's adventure will
entertain children and amuse adults, as well as provide a sense of encouragement
and positive reinforcement.
"A Duck In New York City" comes with lyrics in the book, as
well as lyrics, French translations -- and musical arrangements on the CD-Rom so
that kids can not only sing along with Connie, but perhaps also play along with
her! I'm sure in no time, you'll find yourself singing along with Connie's
catchy tunes! You can find lyrics and song clips in the 