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Interview with Bill Harley

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With his guitar in hand, his Jim Carey-like elastic face, and his Calvin & Hobbes personality, Harley tells stories...hundreds of stories. Bill Harley was on his cell phone while he was driving to New York City. Or rather, his wife, Debbie Block was driving. Bill was telling me a funny story of how hard it is to get out of town. That's what this man does for a living - - he tells funny stories. Billboard Magazine stated that "If Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes fame were to grow up, he'd be Bill Harley. His witty, wise kids' songs, which can be falling-down funny or catch-in-the-throat touching, are the work of a master wordsmith." Harley is the Pete Seeger of our time, not simply by writing catchy lyrics or having a great diversity of musical styles -- he has been honored with Grammys and spots on NPR and PBS for the messages he weaves into his songs and stories.

 

Reading Starts with Listening

Jim Trelease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook, writes extensively about how listening comprehension comes before reading comprehension. What this means is that young children need to hear lots and lots of words to develop their ability to READ. If you have never heard a word before, how can you understand it, read it, or spell it? Bill Harley understands our children and knows how to reach into their hearts and minds through their ears, speaking about the world in which we all live. "Literacy does not begin with learning to read. If a child's language is not paid attention to until they get to Kindergarten, it is too late. They have to be allowed to hear language," says Harley.

And so, with his guitar in hand, his Jim Carey-like elastic face, and his Calvin & Hobbes personality, Harley tells stories. Hundreds of stories and anecdotes about being a kid. Stories about no one believing you, or what to wear to school, or trying to play hooky, or fighting with a sibling, or realizing that Barbie's head is missing. And while he is telling these hilarious stories, something else is happening. Your child is becoming aware of human experiences beyond their own. "Maybe I'm not the only kid who didn't make it to the bathroom in time." Or, "My mother is JUST like that!" Once they realize that, the "I'm not the only one" feeling, you can hear them exhale. "That experience brings more tolerance to our world - whether it's between parent or teacher and child, or different groups of people."

 

Humor is My Weapon

"Humor is my weapon," says Harley. "It is my entrée so that I can talk about other things. When someone is laughing, it is a sign they accept the world the way you see it, so the chance of them listening to the thing I want to say goes up." And listen they do. Whole carloads of kids become silent when Harley comes on. Almost like the old days of radio shows, where people sat around their consoles, you can see that he's captured their imaginations. They can see a world in their own minds just by the events he's strung together. Harley, whose live performances are the stuff of legends, loves those times when he's in the middle of a half hour story, and he looks out across the audience and he sees the change in their faces - - they understand the emotional core of the story and how it relates to their own lives. And using a consummate storyteller's toolbox of tone of voice, delivery, and pace, Harley creates something palpable between himself and his listeners.

 

A Common Culture of Music and Stories

Harley's message reaches parents as well as children. When parents and kids come to live performances, he sees someone get elbowed or that knowing look passes between the two, saying "See? That's us!" "Historically, music has been an expression of community," says Harley. "Music's greatest power is to be cultural - an expression of community. So, songs help define a family unit, a town, a people." Harley loves the creativity and focus on art he sees on his trips to Kansas City. The Reading Reptile has hosted him a number of times, and attracts families who are actively involved in their communities.

Harley's message to parents is that the stories of our families are the very beginnings of what we hold in common and make up a child's culture.  When the parent hears Harley's story about the Great Sled Race, it reminds them of their own story of a sledding hill near Grandma's house, or the competition with Mr. So-and-So, Daddy's best friend when he was a kid. Those are the stories that Bill Harley wants your children to hear.

And in that process, through the common language and the experiences we all share, children are better able to see who they are, where they came from, and can begin to experiment with expressing themselves. Today's kids are, for the most part, receiving their common language from TV and the Internet. According to Harley, "50 years ago, the question was ‘What kind of input can I provide for my kids?' Today, it is ‘What do I filter?'" It is hard to predict where the whole digital age is going with our kids. "The challenge is how to regulate that diet of media for kids. You don't want someone on the internet managing that information for you. It cannot replace a story about your mother."

Of course, there are times when things that he thought would be funny were not. Like when he sang the song "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" to Kindergarteners. The metaphorical punch missed its mark when a child said that it is dangerous to walk a mile anywhere because you might get lost. Or that you're not supposed to wear other people's stuff. But even that story brings a smile and an idea into Bill's head. And you can imagine him looking for a piece of paper in the car to write it down. As long as Debbie is doing the driving.

 

By Bill Harley:

CDs for Younger Children:

There's a Pea on My Plate

Town Around the Bend

Play It Again

Monsters in the Bathroom

Down in the Backpack

 

CDs for Older Children:

Battle of the Mad Scientist

Blah, Blah, Blah

I Wanna Play

From the Back of the Bus

Grownups are Strange

 

Books:

Sarah's Story

Sitting Down to Eat

The Flight of Darius Forbisher

Dirty Joe, The Pirate: A True Story

 

Available at http://www.billharley.com/

 

So what advice would Bill Harley give to new parents?

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