Between The Lions Celebrate National Reading Month With Video

Aaron Nigel Smith and Lionel from Emmy Award winning PBS Kids show Between the Lions released a fun new music video in honor of National Reading Month.

In a Book encourages children to spell, read, imagine and learn though a fun call & response song. The video was shot at the Brooklyn Children's Museum and with third and fourth graders at The Achievement First Academy East New York .

Aaron Nigel Smith has been a featured musical guest on the Emmy Award®winning PBS Kids television series Between the Lions and works with theNEA Read Across America program to promote literacy through music. Aaron's sophomore recording, Everyone Loves To Dance, was awarded a 2010 Parent's Choice "Recommends" Award and a 2010 NAPPA "Honors" Award. A re-release of his award-winning debut CD, Let's Pretend will be released on March 29. 2011. He has been a musician since age 11 when he began performing professionally with the American Boy choir in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and the Essex Cathedral in London. In addition to being an accomplished vocalist, he plays percussion and guitar, is a prolific songwriter, and is an inspiring teacher to children of all ages.

Aaron actively promotes the positive effects of music and movement as an integral part of early education through his recordings as well as his enrichment program, FUNdamentals of Music and Movement. Launched in 2002 in Los Angeles, FUNdamentals is now the program of choice for over 100 schools nationwide. The up-tempo, hook-filled tunes created for his curriculum get kids literally jumping off the floor while exploring key developmental concepts.

Performing regularly around the country, Aaron's entertaining stage show has been featured as part of the Ziggy Marley Family Time Tour, Between the Lions Live, NEA Read Across America Tour, NBC/Universal, Sony, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Fox Studios Family Concerts, and theSierra Nevada World Music, Abbott Kinney andWinnipeg Folk Festivals. Recently, Aaron collaborated with Ziggy Marley and his Palisades Children's Choir, on the new hit Tuff Gong release of Bob Marley songs for kids, B is for Bob. He works with the National Education Association on their Read Across America tours and is a guest speaker for the Department of Education.

Noel MacNeal is the master behind the puppet. Noel launched his career performing on PBS's award-winning Sesame Street, where he honed his craft with puppetry legends Jim Henson and Frank Oz. He's been a performer on Sesame Street for over twenty years, training puppeteers in Japan, Mexico, South Africa, and, most recently, Jordan, Palesitne, and India for the Sesame Workshop co-productions of Sesame Street. Noel is also a regular performer with the classic Muppets of The Muppet Show.For the past decade, Noel has been the spirit and voice of the gentle and lovable star of the Daytime Emmy Award-winning series Disney's Bear in the Big Blue House and the Disney Channel morning series Breakfast With Bear. In 2003, Noel received a Daytime Emmy Nomination as Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series.

He's an author as well, with his puppet-making book 10-Minute Puppets with Noel MacNeal available now from Amazon and your local bookseller.

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