Hugh came to the library a couple of weeks ago, to a packed hall full of Hugh fans (young and not as young), in a fabulous antidote to the mid-winter blues.\u00c2\u00a0 For those of you who don’t know Hugh Hanley, he’s a former preschool teacher turned musician and performer who tailors his interactive programs to the under-7 crowd.\u00c2\u00a0 As a former teacher, he pays close attention to the dynamics of the crowd, and alternates as necessary between the quiet songs and fingerplays\u00c2\u00a0and the active, stand-up, gross motor songs.\u00c2\u00a0 He also has a wonderfully subtle way of requesting that parents stop talking with each other, as he instructs the children to tap on the shoulders of adults who are talking during the show.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hugh is masterful, and clearly a large Hugh-fan club is forming in town, so after the show I asked him whether we could just make this a yearly event.\u00c2\u00a0 I also had to apologize profusely for the too-large audience (the limit was 75, but a LOT of people came who were not on my list – how do you turn away an eager\u00c2\u00a0three-year-old?), and I promised that next January we’ll go for Hugh’s large audience deal with the sound system.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you ever get a chance to see Hugh perform, or to bring Hugh to your own library, go for it.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s terrific.\u00c2\u00a0 Thanks, Hugh!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hugh came to the library a couple of weeks ago, to a packed hall full of Hugh fans (young and not as young), in a fabulous antidote to the mid-winter blues.\u00c2\u00a0 For those of you who don’t know Hugh Hanley, he’s a former preschool teacher turned musician and performer who tailors his interactive programs to … Continue reading Hugh Hanley<\/span>