Millie Calais Darby, of Cecilia, La., sings for Confetti Park Storytime!

She shares with us her beautiful rendition of The Little Red Hen, an old folk tale known by children of countless generations. It’s a sweet moral tale about what happens when you don’t step up to hard work and help your friends in need.

When the little red hen finds a grain of wheat, she gives her barnyard friends many opportunities to help her plant, thresh, mill, and bake it into bread. But they won’t help her. Of course, they want to eat the delicious bread when it’s all baked up into warm goodness!

What do you think will happen?

Confetti Park is a community radio program out of New Orleans. We feature local storytellers and songs that kids love, songs created for kids, or created by kids, right here in Louisiana.

This medley of kids music shows the diversity of Louisiana musicians. Songs featured in this episode, in order:

Meet Kyser, a dog who loves to sing! Author Tommie Townsley of Lake Charles, La., narrates this fun tale written in rhyme, inspired by her own dear pet. Apparently, the real life Kyser can really sing!

The picture book is available through Tommie's company, Kid's Kajun Tales and Ally-Gator Book Bites. Written for 3-6 year olds, it is written in rhyme and rhythm.

Kyser says, "Sing along with me, and you will see, it is so much fun, and when you are done—YOU CAN READ!"

Charles Hudson is a trumpet player who plays mostly zydeco music(!). He is associated with the “royal family” of zydeco, as a regular band member of Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. and The Zydeco Twisters. Being part of this act (Rockin’ Dopsie is often compared to James Brown), Hudson not only has terrific musical chops, but high energy and dancing skills, too.

Charles shares an early memory of how he got his start playing the horn as a kid. “I marched in every parade with the Stardusters Drum and Bugle Corps out of St. Bernard Parish,” says Charles.

Learn all about this storied drum and bugle corps that was based out of Arabi at http://www.louisianadrumcorps.org/stardusters/.

This is a special edition of Confetti Park.

Stephanie Hepburn is a writer living in Louisiana. She is a weekly and monthly contributing writer to the New Orleans Times-Picayune and regularly contributes to other news outlets. Her most recent book, Human Trafficking Around the World: Hidden in Plain Sight, was released by Columbia University Press in June 2013.

Stephanie is an advocate for her fellow human beings, and works to help others not only through journalism, but also through activism and entrepreneurism. She recently founded Good Cloth, an ethical online clothing shop, as her way to make change in the garment industry and spread awareness on the topic of labor exploitation in a positive way.

Stephanie is the mother of two children, and has given much thought to how to talk about the difficult topic of human trafficking with kids.

We want to believe that trafficking can’t happen where we live, but it can and it does because it happens everywhere. Traffickers go to the same places we do, I tell her. They go where there are a lot of people like malls, schools, buses and train stations, and they use Facebook and other Internet sites to try to meet the people they will hurt. They can use classmates at school to recruit and find people to traffic. My daughter is little and this seems unreal, but it happens and we need to talk about it.

Stephanie has created this piece, Conversation With My Daughter About Human Trafficking, for Confetti Park (it also appeared in Huffington Post). You can download the eBook for free this week from Amazon.com.

If you suspect human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center toll-free at 1-888-373-7888.

Today’s featured children’s story is called Pink Hair, written by Gypsy Damaris Boston of Shreveport (and Ida). Her daughter, Janet Damaris Boston, also from Shreveport, is narrating this story. Pink Hair is a the true account of what happened to Janet as a little girl!

Janet gets herself into a delightful predicament when her hair turns pink! But her delight turns to dismay when some grown ups laugh at her.

Why do people think it is funny if you are different and don't look like everyone else?

Ben Schenck is the recognizable face of the Panorama Jazz Band (and Panorama Brass Band). Tall, lanky, wielding his clarinet like a snake charmer, Schenck leads his vivacious troupes through the streets of New Orleans and on stages around the world. Their music is celebratory and joyful, drawing from New Orleans jazz, the tropical rhythms of the Caribbean and the exotic melodies of Eastern Europe.

In this episode of Confetti Park, Ben vividly recalls the elation of encountering a brass band during a parade when he was just a wee lad. 

Thank you, Ben, for sharing this beautiful childhood music memory.

Confetti Park is a community radio program out of New Orleans. We feature local storytellers and songs that kids love, songs created for kids, or created by kids, right here in Louisiana.

This medley of kids music shows the diversity of Louisiana musicians. Songs featured in this episode, in order:

Choo Choo Boogaloo – Buckwheat Zydeco
Choctaw Choo Choo – Confetti Park Players
Big Brown Cow – PH Fred
Ice Cream – George Lewis’ Ragtime Band
Pig Latin Song – Leadbelly
La chanson ee cinquante Sous – Michael “Beausoliel” Doucet With Family & Friends
You Are My Sunshine – Confetti Park Players
Circle Of Life – Johnette Downing

This week's Confetti Park Storytime feature is Ew! The Shabby Sheep, a terrifically fun story in rhyming verse, delightfully narrated by author Scott Lemonier.

In a town on a farm not far away,
There lived a sheep who loved to play.
Now, this sheep was odd, and quite smelly, too.
And because of all this, she was simply called Ew.

Poor Ew cannot find any friends. Is she just too shabby?

Scott is a veteran journalist of 26 years with Times-Picayune, a teacher, and an accomplished children’s book author and illustrator. (And he is a talented vocal artist!) His freelance credits include illustrating and editing a variety of children’s picture books via Ally-Gator BookBites, a Lake Charles publishing services company.

Scott lives in a community on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana.

Jazz pianist Jesse McBride is the director of The Next Generation (begun by Harold Battiste), which features up-and-coming talent in the exploration of modern New Orleans jazz. Jesse is also director of jazz ensembles at Tulane University.

In this episode of Confetti Park, Jesse shares a music memory from his childhood. He talks about how encouragement from his family, and resources through his aunt’s nonprofit, the Community Music Center of Houston, fostered his love for music and cultivated his natural talent.

According to its website, the Community Music Center has roots dating back to the late 1970s, and it was an outgrowth of the black church. One of the wonderful programs of the Community Music Center is providing individual and group lessons & ensembles for children and adults!