Johnette Downing stays true to her Louisiana roots in her newest book, featuring a young pelican searching for his proper home. As Petit Pierre journeys across the wetlands, he asks each creature where he should live. He accumulates gifts from them until he realizes the wetlands are home to all his friends and, just maybe, to Pierre as well!
Within the luscious illustrations are facts about the denizens of the wetlands and how each reader can make a difference in preserving and protecting the wetlands for generations to come. Proceeds from this book, created in partnership with the Audubon Nature Institute and the New Orleans Pelicans, fund wetland education programs.
“Downing has certainly found her niche, serving up New Orleans-flavored tunes.”
―Publishers Weekly
“Children’s singer, arts advocate, and preschool music teacher Johnette Downing, nicknamed the ‘Pied Piper for Louisiana music traditions,’ serves up a mélange of Cajun, Creole, Southern blues, Caribbean, and boogie-woogie influences.”
―EducationWatch, the Grammy Foundation
“This New Orleans native singer/songwriter takes the music of her life―Cajun, zydeco, and jazz―and mixes it into a kid-friendly gumbo.”
―South Florida Parenting magazine
“Downing thinks like a child, but writes like a magician.”
―Julie Kane, former Louisiana Poet Laureate
Johnette Downing uses her love of Louisiana to give her writing a unique kick. Called the “musical ambassador to children” and the “Pied Piper of Louisiana music traditions,” Downing is a musician and author dedicated to sharing her Louisiana roots, music, and books with children. The recipient of twenty-two international awards, Downing has performed concerts and author visits for children, and workshops for educators, in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, Central America, North America, and the Caribbean.
The author of twenty-one children’s books and ten recordings, Downing has garnered rave reviews from School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Parents’ Magazine, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Grammy.com, and numerous parenting journals.
Selected by New Orleans Magazine as one of the 2014 Top Female Achievers, and by CityBusiness Magazine as one of the 2008 Women of the Year, Downing, a former early-childhood music teacher, is passionate about combining music and stories to celebrate childhood, culture, and literacy. When not serving her irresistible kid-friendly musical and literary gumbo across the globe, she resides in New Orleans with her husband.
