Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College continues its Target Storybook Series with Jim Henson's Dinosaur Train LIVE! - Buddy's Big Adventure on Sunday, April 26, 2015 at 12pm and 3pm. Recommended for ages three and up, the popular Emmy Award nominated PBS KIDS series comes to life for this interactive 'pre-hysterical' musical. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at BrooklynCenter.org or by calling the box office at 718-951-4500 (Tue-Sat, 1pm-6pm).

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College continues its Target Storybook Series with Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia's The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other Eric Carle Favourites on Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 2pm. Recommended for ages three and up, this triple-bill includes The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Little Cloud, and The Mixed-Up Chameleon. Tickets are $9 and can be purchased at BrooklynCenter.org or by calling the box office at 718-951-4500 (Tue-Sat, 1pm-6pm).

Now beginning its 9th 'unbubblievable' year, GAZILLION BUBBLE SHOW, is proving to be unPopable! A New York City MUST SEE, the GAZILLION BUBBLE SHOW, will celebrate its 9th year on February 15th, its 3150th performance, at New World Stages (340 West 50 Street).

GRAMMY Award-winning singer-songwriter and children's author Lisa Loeb will be in New York City for the March 21st opening of Camp Kappawanna at Atlantic Theater Company, and to perform a benefit concert for Michael's Fund at BB King's on March 28th. Loeb will also appear at Vision Expo, an eyewear trade show, presenting new styles in her Lisa Loeb Eyewear collection.

Following a successful run in The Midtown Children's Musical Theater Festival, RAPUNZARELLA WHITE will re-open at 13th Street Repertory Theater (50 West 13th St. between 5th & 6th Ave) beginning Saturday, January 24th and will run Saturdays at 11am and 1pm through May 9th, 2015. Written by June Rachelson-Ospa (Triangle, currently at 13th St. Rep) and Daniel Neiden (Tempest-The Musical at Cherry Lane Theater). RAPUNZARELLA WHITE is directed by Neiden and is presented by Bozomoon Productions. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by visiting ?www.13thstreetrep.org or calling OvationTix at 212-352-3101.

There's something refreshing about bringing your family to see Broadway shows that inherently and organically appeal to modern day kids. Not that I'm not a huge supporter of bringing your kids to see ALADDIN or LION KING! It's natural to reserve our precious ticket-buying dollars for musicals that are designed for families, and any junior Broadway fan would be lucky to enjoy those kinds of shows. But rarely do parents have an opportunity to bring their kids to a classic American comedy that brings to the stage a bit of theatrical history and a story that can entertain kids and parents alike without pandering to the family market.

The Olivier Award-winning Complicite brings the U.S. premiere of Lionboy - the first family production in the company's 31-year history - to The New Victory Theater from January 23 - February 1, 2015. Based on Zizou Corder's bestselling fantasy trilogy for young adults, Lionboy uses inventive storytelling, shadow puppetry, physical theater and aerial acrobatics to tell this dystopian tale.

The critically acclaimed family theater Making Books Sing has a new name New York City elected officials Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Staten Island Deputy Borough President Ed Burke, WPIX's Emmy-award winning 'Morning News' host Sukanya Krishnan and other esteemed friends and supporters attended a press reception where New York City Children's Theater (formerly Making Books Sing) announced their new name and 2014-15 season on Tuesday, October 21st at the Vineyard Theater.

One of my son's favorite children's book series is "Fly Guy" by Tedd Arnold. So when we heard that Theatreworks, one of New York's preeminent family theatre companies, was presenting a musical version of "Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl", we knew we had to check it out! Our favorite, buzzing hero's tale was part of a new musical revue based on favorite children's books. The show kicked off a new weekend performance series at the Danny Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, and if "Fly Guy" was any indication, the rest of the series is sure to be a hit.

Families who love children's music superstar and preschool television favorite Laurie Berkner will soon have the chance to take their children to classes based on her music and guided by her educational philosophy. Laurie Berkner's The Music in Me will launch at four Manhattan locations, beginning in September. Laurie Berkner's The Music in Me is a 'Me and My Grownup' style program designed by Laurie Berkner. All classes will be taught by teachers personally trained by Laurie.

Attention Dance Moms and Broadway Kids Fans! Cabaret for a Cause will present a one-night-only concert Aug. 11 at Brooklyn's Galapagos Arts Space to benefit kef productions and their education program, Story Shifters.

The critically acclaimed Making Books Sing will premiere two new musicals for family audiences in the 2014-2015 season. The Amazing Adventures of Harvey and the Princess and The Beautiful Game come on the heels of last season's hit shows Ballerina Swan and Dear Albert Einstein (Off-Broadway Alliance Award nomination).

This month, the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is teaming up wiht the Theatre Development Fund's Autism Theatre Initiative (ATI) to launch its first ever autism friendly series for kids. The shows will be performed in a supportive environment for an audience of families and friends with children or adults who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder or other sensitivity issues. Slight adjustments to the production may be made, including reduction of any jarring sounds or light cues. The theatre lobby will have a quiet/activity area, staffed with autism specialists, for those who need to leave their seats during the performance. Social narratives and pictures of the theares and productions designed to personalize the experience for each attendee with ASD will be available for download in advance of the performances.

It's time for this year's exciting Third Annual New York Children's Festival, running April 25 to May 18. The New York Children's Theater Festival is a spring highlight for NYC families, created to greatly widen the spectrum of existing theater offerings for children and bring new respect and heightened awareness to the art form and the artists involved. NYCTF provides a birthplace in New York City for new live children's entertainment from around the globe, and serves as a platform for writers and producers who are passionate about developing innovative theatrical experiences for children. Here's the low-down on this year's offerings:

Samantha is a lonely kid who prowls the rain-washed streets of her film-noir fantasies as SAMANTHA SPADE, ACE DETECTIVE, the go-to gumshoe who always solves the case (for $25 a day plus Twizzlers). TADA! Youth Theater will be presenting the world premier of this original family musical performed by kids for kids, from April 26-May 18.

This Summer, The Public Theater will be offering a summer program for young actors between the ages of 14 and 18. A Midsummer's Day Camp at The Public Theater. Designed by arts in education specialists from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the two week summer conservatory for NYC's young Classical Actors will run August 4th through 17th.

Set in 1954, DEAR ALBERT EINSTEIN tells the story of Susan, a 12-year-old star math student who, when starting junior high, struggles between the desire to be herself and the pressure to be like all of the other girls in her class. Her admiration for Einstein, who periodically pops up in her imagination, complicates and eventually helps her along her journey. The musical combines early rock-n-roll, swing, and classical music.

Wally Watthead and His Lost Glow is magician Janne Raudaskoski's experiential magic theatre performance for the entire family. The play takes place on the night desk of a girl called Polly - the home to a mobile phone, a night lamp and a picture of Polly. Everything is fine until one day Wally Watthead, the night lamp, loses his glow. Simon Simcard, a smartphone, helps Wally regain his glow, and the magic of the play is based on their adventures together. Among a variety of other tricks, Wally Watthead is seen levitating in the air and shrinking himself to miniature size. The chemistry between the two buddies is, however, put to test when Polly Picture - whom Wally is rather fond of - comes to life.

Right now at the NYU Skirball Center, a new Cirque-style acrobatics show is waiting to make your holiday week special. The choreographer of the 2006 Olympic Games closing ceremonies has joined forces with Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity choreographer to create a new circus spectacle 'that lives between dream and reality, underscored by a continuous stream of original music, and brought to vivid life by 3-D projections'. CIRKOPOLIS, the new show by Montreal-based Circus Arts company Cirque Eloize, is a mind-blowing spectacle for kids of all ages. I was lucky enough to bring my ten and five year olds, and both had a memorable theatrical experience not easily replicated!

A lively musical adaptation of the classic Dickens tale. Follow along with Ebenezer Scrooge as he is visited by four ghosts; his old business partner Marley, the ghost of Christmas past, present and future. See what happens when he gets a glimpse of his own future if he doesn't change his life. Will Scrooge catch the holiday spirit and save himself in the process? Find out by joining us for this special holiday show with a story so warm it will melt the cold heart of even the grumpiest Scrooge!

Clearly, Once is a perfect show for a family with teenage children. It doesn't pander in any way, yet it's message is so pure and beautiful, it becomes holistically wholesome by the end of the show. It's a love story. There is no violence. Women are not exploited. Children are not harmed. But there is pain and heartbreak and loss and when those things are filtered through the minds and mouths of working class Irish folk, the F word shows up. A lot.

THE GREATEST PIRATE STORY NEVER TOLD! is a madcap, musical adventure that revolves around Captain Henry Martin and his stalwart crew, who have been flung in to the future by a befuddled sea witch to perform the greatest pirate epic ever seen on stage. But with their script torn asunder, these pirates-turned-players are forced to improvise their show as it unfolds, based upon the audience's suggestions.'

Based on the 2003 Tim Burton Film, the show deals with a man's journey to sort out the truth from the fiction of his dying father's life. The stories, told through musical numbers, are larger than life and there is enough color and character to entrance any kid. The subject matter however, is a bit more sensitive a topic. Death is dealt with in a very emotional way, and just as no adult in the audience escaped without a tear, kids will also find the show as sad as it is often uplifting. A mature eight year old will be able to handle the themes, although my sensitive ten year old held my hand tight during the sad parts.

Four original productions have been announced for the 2014 New York Children's Theater Festival. Now in it's third year, the festival 'serves family audiences by supporting upcoming artists and industry professionals who are passionate about creating theatrical experiences and productions for children'. The following productions will be showcased in April of 2014:

If I didn't know that Pippin was written by two men in the 1970's, I might think it was a message from a 2013 mother to her child about finding happiness. I personally missed the original Broadway production which closed when I was four years old (stop doing math!), but enough high school productions (featuring a different version of the book) made me miss what makes this show so universally appealing and meaningful: What began as an allegory of a young man in search of himself presents, for people my age, as a reflection of our sacrifices and triumphs as parents who may have given up loftier dreams for the deeper sense of satisfaction that comes from raising children. Meanwhile, for kids, the show may be about the constant hunger young people feel when they are chasing ambitions and deciding who they will be. Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson were writing about a young man aspiring to find his purpose, while I felt the show was a perfect documentation of my current midlife crisis. Universally appealing.