Frog Trouble: . . . and Eleven Other Pretty Serious Songs

Hang on to yer hat, Cowboy.

Yeeeee-hah! Boynton goes Country! With three Gold Record albums and a Grammy nomination to her credit, Boynton now brings you FROG TROUBLE, a terrific CD and illustrated songbook of her new and wildly original Country songs. And they're sung by a truly amazing roster of Country Music's biggest and brightest stars: Here's Brad Paisley with Copycat, Dwight Yoakam singing I've Got a Dog, Alison Krauss on End of a Summer Storm, Ben Folds rocking Broken Piano, Darius Rucker with Beautiful Baby. The lonesome-cowboy title track is performed by the low-voiced moody rocker Mark Lanegan (yes, of Queens of the Stone Age.) Add Josh Turner, Fountains of Wayne, Ryan Adams, Linda Eder, and quickly rising Country star Kacey Musgraves--all accompanied by Nashville's finest instrumentalists, and WHOA. You've got yourself some mighty fine music, with a whole lot of gumption and heart.

A COUNTRY MUSIC ALBUM FOR KIDS AND EVERYONE

• Boynton-illustrated songbook with full-length music CD

• 12 new songs with a whole lot of gumption and heart

• Cowboy, Country, Rockabilly, Honkytonk, Bluegrass, Blues

• Retro sound with a TRULY AMAZING All-Star Artist roster!

• Lyrics by Sandra Boynton

• Music written and produced by Sandra Boynton and Michael Ford

• Recorded in Nashville with renowned session musicians

• Boynton & Ford have written and produced three Gold Records

• Boynton has a Grammy Nomination for Philadelphia Chickens, which was also a #1 New York Times Bestseller

"Boynton (Philadelphia Chickens) returns with a fifth vibrant CD-and-illustrated-songbook collaboration. This time, she embraces country music, inspired (as a note explains) by the soundtrack of her childhood, growing up in the 1950s, singing folk songs at school and watching westerns on TV at home. With longtime songwriting and producing partner Mike Ford and top-notch musicians, including Alison Krauss, Ryan Adams, Dwight Yoakam, and Fountains of Wayne, Boynton presents 12 tunes with some familiar country themes (trucks, dogs, heartache) as seen through a child's or parent's eyes. In the book's 'Look While You Listen' section, select lyrics appear with Boynton's signature animal characters. Spot illustrations dot the 'Sing and Play Along' pages, which include full lyrics and musical notation. The eponymous 'Frog Trouble' is a simultaneously ominous and hilarious send-up of spaghetti western soundtracks, while Brad Paisley's band mimics his lyrics in 'Copycat,' resulting in some funny musical moments: 'Stop it. (Stop it!) No, seriously. (No, seriously).' In the humorously mournful 'Heartache Song,' Kacey Musgraves channels Patsy Cline as she croons, 'Don't they remember — / all the heartache so deep/ when somebody tells you/ it's time now for sleep.' And Ben Folds is pure honky-tonk as he insists, 'Some might say the piano is broken,/ but it seems to play for me.' Boynton's spot-on humor and the performers' talents ensure an entertaining family outing, while demonstrating just how diverse country can be. Brief profiles of the performers, humorous interstitials about good pet names and how to talk like a cowboy, and a frog-puppet craft round out the fun. Ages 2 — up. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Sandra Boynton is one of America’s best-loved artists. Her Boynton on Board and other books for children have tens of millions of copies in print, with Barnyard Dance!, Snuggle Puppy!, and Pajama Time! leading the way. Ms. Boynton lives with her family in rural Connecticut, working out of a converted barn that has the only hippopotamus weather vane in the state.