I’ve partnered up with the amazing team at Spark Inc. to make a musical – drawing app for crafty, little hands. It’s called DRAW ON THE TABLE and it’s free!

Hope your little ones enjoy it.

xo f xo

I’m so thrilled that Clarks is using my song “Red Balloon” in a brand new ad for their 2012 Fall collection. Ok, get ready for some cute shoes!

This is what you get when a bunch of women write and record songs about science for kids! So many great artists including Elizabeth Mitchell, Lunch Money, Mates of State, Laura Veirs and many more! I’m so honored to be included in this group. I wrote a song about the “Goldilocks Zone” for this cd — hope you can check it out! All proceeds benefit Girls Inc. Science Ed program! On sale now at i Tunes or directly from www.sparetherock.com

I have a holiday-inspired CREATIVE FAMILY CHALLENGE for you that comes with a free new song and involves you making something beautiful with all those photos you took of your kid(s) this year. Hope you check out it out here on my Diary page and share it with your family and friends!

I’m so excited to share this hour-long show that I created for XM Radio on the making of Mind of My Own. I tried my best to channel Mr. Rogers and Ira Glass, two of my favorite storytellers in the world. Over the course of an hour, I take the listeners onto the streets of San Francisco, to Haight Ashbury to interview some interesting musicians who played on the cd, and down to Ocean Beach to listen to the waves and pay homage to the great Jacques Cousteau.

I also talk about the song I sang with the Mates of State, “Place in Your Heart,” and interview a bunch of kids about toys they hold dear to their hearts – the things they say are precious and often hysterical. Finally, for the song “To Be,” I talk to parents and grandparents about lessons they have learned from their kids – the observations they make are beautiful and profound (I have a hard time listening to this with dry eyes).

The entire show is free to listen to and available for streaming anytime on your computer and iPhones / smartphones. Hope you and your kids enjoy listening to it on your next road trip or lazy Sunday afternoon! xo f xo

Hey there,
I just posted a new entry on my DIARY page about a fun fridge collage that my kids and I did with some of our phone photos – check it out if you like! And we’d love to know if you have any ideas of how to display your everyday pictures!

We are so thrilled to receive a Parent’s Choice GOLD award for Mind of My Own!

“England is an original, an exceptionally creative and musically astute children’s artist whose unique musical vision was apparent in her 2007 debut album, “Fascinating Creatures,” which put her among other top artists in the field. With the authenticity of her alt-rock and acoustic folk rhythms, her expressive vocals and gentle, slightly offbeat approach to what it means to be a child-and a parent-England again proves that she’s the real deal.”

(wow, they really know how to make a girl feel good! thanks again, parent’s choice! )

Thanks so much to Babble for naming Mind of My Own #3 on it’s Top 50 List of Best Albums for Babies — “Frances England plays charming little indie-pop songs that just happen to be for kids. These 15 no-nonsense songs drop in, deploy their hooks with precision, and are out of there before you even know what happened; no repetitive verses or instrumentation beyond what’s strictly necessary. And though they’re mostly written from a child’s point of view, England’s tunes capture the wonder and openness of the childish mind without a hint of the audience-pandering (either to kids or grown-ups) that mars much of the newer kids’ music out there.”

Congratulations to our good friends Elizabeth Mitchell, Dean Jones, Brady Rymer, Dan Zanes and everyone else on the list too – thanks, Babble!

from the February 2011 Discmakers Catalog….to request your own copy, you can visit www.discmakers.com

I wanted to tell you about my latest Diary (blog) entry because I got a little help from some friends with it. I asked people to share their C R E A T I V E resolutions for 2011 and heard from some of my favorite kindie musicians – Caspar Babypants, Elizabeth Mitchell, Dean Jones, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, Recess Monkey, Lucky Diaz , among others. Their resolutions are super fun, insightful and inspiring to read.

In fact, after reading Caspar’s resolutions I immediately began planning my family’s first ever Madventure – this is one of the best ideas I’ve ever heard of – I think we all should do this, don’t you? I’d love to hear what your creative aspirations are for 2011 so please stop by my Diary page and leave a message!

Hey there! Mind of My Own was released on Tuesday (November 9) and I’m so excited to finally share it with you all. You can hear the entire cd on the Music page. Here’s a review today from Myles McDonnell, the former entertainment editor of Cookie magazine. Please check it out and tell a friend. I so appreciate you helping me spread the word about it!

One more thing – last week we started our Creative Family Challenges + CD Giveaways on the Diary page. Complete the “assignment”, leave a comment, and be entered to win CD’s and other fun stuff.

My new family cd, Mind of My Own, is coming out on November 9 and to celebrate its release, Sirius XM Radio’s Kids Place Live channel invited me to do an hour-long show with them. I’ll play the entire cd and talk to kids, parents and teachers about some of the themes of the songs. I’ll also take listeners for a walk through San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury neighborhood and stop by the houses of a couple of musicians who played on the album to talk about their instruments, inspiration and share some stories about making music together.

I had so much fun putting this show together – I hope your whole family enjoys it.

The program will be broadcast nationally four times this weekend at the following times:

Friday 11/5, 9pET/6pPT

Saturday 11/6, 9aET,6aPT & 5pET, 2pPT

Sunday 11/7, 12pET/9aPT

For more information, please see http://www.xmradio.com/kidsplacelive

We have three fun TRICYCLE MUSIC FEST WEST shows coming up:

Saturday, October 16 at 3 pm – Eureka Valley Library

Sunday, October 17 at 3 pm – Richmond Branch Library

Sunday, October 24 at 11:00 am – San Francisco Main Public Library, Downtown Civic Center  - along with the Devil-Ettes, the Time Outs and the Sippy Cups.

These are all FREE shows – Let’s rock out at the library together!

We’re headed to Austin this weekend.

Showtimes:
Saturday, October 9th, 2:30pm
Sunday, October 10th, 3pm

Featuring Mates of State, the Jellydots, and more.

Generally Available November 9th. Pre-order from the Online Store now.