Barry Louis Polisar is an author and singer-songwriter who writes

children's music Children's music or kids' music is music composed and performed for children. In European-influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has hi ...

and numerous

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

, poems, and stories.

Works

Polisar has traveled throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

as a visiting author in schools and libraries. He is a five-time

Parents' Choice Award The Parents' Choice Award was an award presented by the non-profit Parents' Choice Foundation to recognize "the very best products for children of different ages and backgrounds, and of varied skill and interest levels." It was considered a "prest ...

winner and has performed in The

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

The Smithsonian The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, education and research centers, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded on August 10, 1846, it operates as a trus ...

, and The

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

. He has written songs for

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

and The Weekly Reader, has starred in an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

-winning television show for children, and has been featured regularly on

The Learning Channel TLC is an American multinational cable television, cable and satellite television, satellite television network owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established in 1980 as The Learn ...

. Polisar works with literacy groups, media specialists, reading teachers, and Title I programs in schools and has won a Special Library Recognition Award for his "ability to communicate with and excite children to read". Polisar's 1977 song "All I Want Is You" was featured during the

opening credits In a motion picture, television program or video game, the opening credits or opening titles are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank scree ...

Jason Reitman Jason R. Reitman (; born October 19, 1977) is a Canadian–American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the films ''Thank You for Smoking'' (2005), ''Juno (film), Juno'' (2007), ''Up in the Air (2009 film), Up in the Air'' (2009), ''Young ...

's film ''

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods * ''Juno'' (film), the 2007 film Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, a character in the book ''Juno of ...

''. This song has been featured in many advertisements, including for the

National Lottery (United Kingdom) The National Lottery is the state-franchising, franchised national lottery established in 1994 in the United Kingdom. It is regulated by the Gambling Commission, and is operated by Allwyn Entertainment, who took over from Camelot Group (who ha ...

, the

Honda Civic The is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1972. , the Civic is positioned between the Honda Fit/Honda City, City and Honda Accord in Honda's global passenger car line-up. The first-generation Civic was introduced in July 1972 ...

"Date With a Woodsman" spot, the

Del Monte Foods Del Monte Foods Inc. ( trading as Del Monte Foods) is an American food production and distribution company and subsidiary of NutriAsia, headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. Del Monte Foods is one of the largest producers, distributor ...

"Bursting with Life" spot, and the "Little Farmer" ad for

Lay's Lay's (, ) is a brand of potato chips with different flavors, as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the United States. The brand is also referred to as Frito-Lay, as both Lay's and Fritos are brands sold by the ...

potato chips Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep frying, deep fried, baking, baked, ...

that debuted during

Super Bowl LIX Super Bowl LIX was an American football championship game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2024 NFL season, 2024 season. In a rematch of Super Bowl LVII two years prior, the National Football Conf ...

. A two-disc

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

, compiled by Aaron Cohen of the

Radioactive Chicken Heads The Radioactive Chicken Heads are an American virtual band formed in Orange, California in 1993. Operating anonymously under the guise of mutant chickens and vegetables, the Chicken Heads' music is primarily a mix of punk rock, heavy metal musi ...

entitled ''We're Not Kidding! A Tribute to Barry Louis Polisar'' was released in 2010. The album features covers of 60 of Polisar's songs by artists such as DeLeon,

Rebecca Loebe Rebecca Ann Loebe (born August 17, 1983) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. She has performed and toured with such recording artists as Shawn Colvin, The Civil Wars, Gregory Alan Isakov, Mary Chapin Carpenter, an ...

The Radioactive Chicken Heads The Radioactive Chicken Heads are an American virtual band formed in Orange, California in 1993. Operating anonymously under the guise of mutant chickens and vegetables, the Chicken Heads' music is primarily a mix of punk rock, heavy metal and ...

Tor Hyams Tor Hyams (born May 28, 1969) is an American songwriter and record producer. History Hyam's roster of artists include Joan Osborne, Edwin McCain, Vivian Campbell, Billy Gibbons, Lou Rawls, Rachel York, Lisa Loeb, Perry Farrell and Deborah Harry. ...

, and Barry Louis Polisar's son

Evan Polisar Evan is a Welsh masculine given name, derived from ''Iefan'', a Welsh form of the name John. Similar names that share this origin include Euan, Ivan, Ian, and Juan. "John" itself is derived from the ancient Hebrew name (romanised: Yəhôḥān ...

Personal life

Polisar was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Maryland. He began his career when he moved to

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat is Rockville, Maryland ...

Awards

*Polisar's TV show Field Trip won two Emmy Awards in its first season. *Polisar's recordings have won four (5) different Parents' Choice Awards. *In 2008, Barry won a ''Lifetime Achievement Award'' from the ''Children's Music Web'' for "three decades of being a distinctive voice for kids." *Numerous Children's Music Web Awards for Best Children's Recording, Best New Song, and Best "Classic" recording. *Polisar's book Insect Soup won a Parents' Guide Award for Outstanding Children's Books. *Polisar's Scrapbook video won a National Media Gold Award and an award from the Coalition on Quality Children's Recordings. *Two Maryland State Artist Awards. *Polisar's recording of Old Dogs, New Tricks was named "one of the twenty best Children's Recordings of all time" in The American Library Association's Children's Jukebox and Award Hall of Fame. *Maryland Library Association's Special Recognition Award for his "contributions on behalf of children of all ages" for his "ability to communicate with children and excite them to read."

Discography

Albums

*''Old Enough to Know Better'' *''A Little Different'' *''Juggling Babies'' *''Naughty Songs for Boys & Girls'' *''Teachers Favorites'' *''Old Dogs, New Tricks'' *''Family Trip'' *''Family Concert'' *''I Eat Kids and Other Songs for Rebellious Children'' *''My Brother Thinks He's a Banana and other Provocative Songs for Children'' *''Captured Live and in the Act'' *''Songs for Well Behaved Children'' *''Stanley Stole My Shoelace and Rubbed it in His Armpit and Other Songs My Parents Won't Let Me Sing'' *''Off-Color Songs for Kids''

Collaborations

*2009

Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media The Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media has been awarded since 2000. History In 2000 the award was presented as the Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album, and from 2001 to 2011 as Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for ...

winning soundtrack of ''

'' *2010

winning and NAPPA Gold Award winning album ''We're Not Kidding! A Tribute to Barry Louis Polisar'' *2012

Grammy Award for Best Children's Album The Grammy Award for Best Children's Album (from 2020: Grammy Award for Best Children's Music Album) is an honor presented since 2012 at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Hono ...

winning album ''All About Bullies... Big And Small''

Bibliography

*''Insect Soup'' *''Peculiar Zoo'' *''A Little Less Noise'' *''Don't Do That'' *''The Trouble With Ben'' *''Snakes! and the Boy Who Was Afraid of Them'' *''The Snake Who Was Afraid of People'' *''The Haunted House Party'' *''Dinosaurs I Have Known'' *''Noises From Under the Rug'' *''Telling the Story: A Passover Haggadah Explained'' *''Stolen Man: The Story of the Amistad Rebellion'' *''Curious Creatures'' *''Something Fishy'' *''Retelling Genesis''

References

External links

*Barrylou.com fficial website {{DEFAULTSORT:Polisar, Barry Louis Living people American children's musicians American children's writers People from Montgomery County, Maryland 20th-century American musicians 21st-century American musicians Year of birth missing (living people) Singer-songwriters from Maryland