Kids' Music Superstar Laurie Berkner's Greatest Hits Solo Tour Returns to Ravinia

By popular demand, best-selling children's recording artist and preschool television favorite Laurie Berkner will return to the Ravinia Festival, 418 Sheridan Rd., Highland Park, IL with her Greatest Hits Solo Tour at 12:00 noon on Saturday, July 15, 2017. Says Laurie Berkner, "It's almost time for Ravinia again! I feel so lucky that this has become an annual event for me. I can't think of a more beautiful or inviting venue in which to share my music with my Chicagoland fans."

A pioneer in children's music over the last twenty years, the legendary Laurie Berkner will bring such well-loved hits as "Bumblebee (Buzz Buzz)," "Victor Vito," "We Are The Dinosaurs," and "Pig on Her Head" to this performance, along with songs like "Bicycle," "Bubbles," and "I've Got So Much To Give" from her new album, Superhero. Laurie will showcase many fan favorites, including an array of tunes that encourage kids and grownups alike to get up and dance. Kids should plan to bring their dancing shoes and a stuffed animal (for their heads).

At her solo shows, in addition to familiar hits, Laurie Berkner performs songs that don't always fit with a full-band performance: tunes with simpler arrangements, hand motions, and a cappella singing, like "Bottle Caps," "One Seed," "Telephone," and "Drive My Car."

To give everyone a chance to catch their breath between high-energy moments, the show will include quieter interludes, with songs such as Laurie's classic "Moon Moon Moon."

Dubbed "one of children's music's biggest success stories" by USA Today, Laurie Berkner's original songs, albums, DVDs, music videos, and books leave no doubt: Laurie is the uncrowned queen of children's music and the power behind the progressive "kindie rock" movement.

Laurie Berkner was the first artist to ever appear in music videos on Nick Jr. and was featured in nearly all the episodes of the channel's Jack's Big Music Show. She currently stars in the animated musical short-form series Sing It, Laurie! on the Sprout preschool channel and has made frequent appearances on Sprout's Sunny Side Up morning show. Laurie is also a familiar presence on SiriusXM's Kids Place Live.

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers is publishing a series of three picture books with Laurie Berkner. The first, We Are the Dinosaurs, illustrated by Ben Clanton, was released in March, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the release of Laurie's "We Are the Dinosaurs" song on her very first album, Whaddaya Think of That? Coming in November will be Pillowland, based on Laurie's beloved song by that name, with beautiful illustrations by Camille Garoche. Summer 2018 will see the publication of Monster Boogie, illustrated by Ben Clanton.

A former preschool music teacher by day and indie rocker by night, Laurie Berkner started selling her music nearly two decades ago out of her living room on her own label, Two Tomatoes Records. Laurie has received tremendous critical acclaim. Time Magazine lauded Laurie as "a kind of sippy-cup Sheryl Crow ... Berkner inhabits a kid's curious perspective in her lyrics and pens folk-pop melodies that bear repeated -- very repeated -- listenings." The Wall Street Journal called Laurie "one of the most popular children's performers in America ... her music is distinctive because it speaks to kids without talking down to them, charming youngsters without boring grown-ups."

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