Hi-5 Celebrate CD

' - Penguin BooksA Grammy award winning artist, Bill uses song and story paint a vibrant and hilarious picture of growing up, schooling and family life. His work spans the generation gap, reminds us of our common humanity and challenges us to be our very best selves. A prolific author and recording artist, Bill is also a regular commentator for NPR's All Things Considered and featured on PBS. Harley joined the National Storytelling Network's Circle of Excellence in 2001 and tours nationwide as an author and performing artist.

With these considerable talents, Bill considers his real work to be using these skills to encourage his audience to see the world anew and to experience 'live art', to honor the emotional lives of children and adults and finally, to pass along a love of language and music.

'Bill Harley takes his life and turns it into art. Sounds simple until you actually try to do it. That Harley's art seems so effortless only underscore his mastery.

' -Nuvo NewsweeklyPraise for Cool in School:"Like Garrision Keillor and the writers of The Wonder Years, Bill Harley has a knack for nostalgia. This is a rarer talent than you might think. Nostalgia is easy to do poorly---anybody can get a laugh by listing the fads of his youth, now grown trite and ridiculous---but it's almost impossible to do well.

Reminiscing about his "60s Indiana childhood on Cool in School, Harley usually manages enough insights to make his memories more than merely cute. At their best, the two stories on Cool are essays on the pitfalls of adolescence.