Jim Gill’s Family Room Tour Concert
Vigo County Public Library
Saturday, April 28
10:00 a.m.

Jim Gill, nationally known musician and author, will present his Family Room Tour Concert at the Vigo County Public Library at 7^th & Poplar on Saturday, April 28, at 10:00 a.m.  This free event is sponsored by the United Way of the Wabash Valley’s Success by 6 and is planned for families with young children.

Jim has won acclaim for bringing the emphasis on family play to his live concerts. Anyone who has ever attended one of Jim’s family concerts knows that rather than performing for the children and parents, Jim leads them to sing and play together.

Jim is a child development specialist, having completed his graduate studies in child development at the Erikson Institute of Chicago with a special emphasis on the study of play.  For this reason, each of Jim’s recordings and books is created as an opportunity for playful interactions between a child and a caring adult.

Jim has released six award-winning CDs of music play for young children that are favorites in family rooms, classrooms and playrooms. He is also the author of two children's books. His latest, A Soup Opera, is a sing-along opera inspired by concerts that Jim performs with symphony orchestras. The book received an American Library Association award in 2010. Jim has received four separate awards from the American Library Association for his recordings and books over the years.

Jim speaks to early childhood educators, care providers and children’s librarians across the country about the many benefits of play in young children’s lives. Jim has shared his expertise on music, play and literacy with organizations such as Head Start, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the National Association for Family Child Care and, most recently, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Success by 6 is a community-based program designed to provide every child with the opportunity to develop basic reading skills so that they may enter kindergarten ready to learn.  United Way of the Wabash Valley has multiple programs under the Success by 6 umbrella that make sure children are ready to learn.  For more information on Success by 6:  www.uwwv.org