Folk Music Icon Peter Yarrow Coming to Penguin Bookshop

Expect an outpouring of song and laughter to rain down Monday when folk-music legend Peter Yarrow visits the .

Yarrow, one-third of the folk collective Peter, Paul & Mary, will be at the bookstore at 1 p.m. to of his new children's book “It’s Raining, It’s Pouring.” 

The book is based on the lyrics of the classic children’s song by Peter, Paul & Mary, the popular American folk trio consisting of Yarrow, Noel “Paul” Stookey and the late Mary Travers.

“The book is really an illustration of a children’s song," Yarrow said. 

Quite fittingly, the July 1 release of the new book comes as the group celebrates 50 years since the release of their first album. The legendary folk-singing trio emerged in the early 1960s and used the power of song to ignite the social conscience of a nation, inspiring millions of Americans to dream of a better world.

Their songs had a message, one the group lived as much as they sang. And between lyrics of justice, freedom and love, they made sure every album included a song for children. Peter, Paul & Mary is famous for writing the classic children's song “Puff (the Magic Dragon),” that also became a popular storybook.

Yarrow said his book appearances are especially geared for children, and also great fun for adults.

"It's really a wonderful kind of event for me," Yarrow said. "They're very small compared to the places we used to perform, but it's very rewarding and very improvisational."

Stookey, who won’t be in Sewickley, but is touring with Yarrow to some locations, said children really enjoy the fun atmosphere at the book-signing events.

“It’s the closest thing to pre-school riots you can imagine. It’s like a birthday party,” Stookey said. “…Sometimes we dance, sometimes we tell stories, it’s very unpredictable because of the age group.” 

Yarrow plans to sign copies of the new book, making sure to serve the children first, but not before spending 30-45 minutes singing some of the group's classic songs, which he said the adults love.

"Some of the kids are surprised to see their parents singing, gesturing and having a great time," he said. 

Yarrow said it’s not just the book, but also the accompanying music that completes the compositions and gives the stories a much broader audience.  As an example, he said “Puff the Magic Dragon” was wildly successful” as a book and CD, selling more than 1 million copies and paving the way for more story books.

“If it’s a children’s book, it’s not just a child that sees it, there are babysitters and grandparents, so it spreads,” Yarrow said, “It spreads this music in a way that’s virtually impossible to do in commercial record companies now.”

A three-song CD that comes with the book includes the group’s version of the title song in addition to “Glory of Love,” a song written and performed by Stookey and "Make Believe Town," performed by Yarrow and written by Yarrow's sister, Elena Mezzetti, who wrote the song when she was 7 and it later was recorded by Peter, Paul & Mary.

In 2007, Yarrow decided to make some of the group's songs into books rather than just re-recording the songs. Although Travers' voice was stilled by complications from leukemia in September 2009, she recorded the narration of a poem for the "The Night Before Christmas" and the soundtrack.

“Really, it was the last thing that she recorded,” Yarrow said. “It’s really something that we’re very proud of.”

She also appears on "It's Raining, It's Pouring," one of Peter, Paul & Mary's first songs. In addition to images of Jack and Jill, and “Hey Diddle Diddle,” the book also features a game of hide and go seek depicting a blind-folded girl counting indoors while the rain pours outside.

Stookey said it never occurred to him when Travers added the “5, 10, 15, 20” to the song that it would someday become such an important part of the book. He also likes that the kids are playing games, not computer games, but games where they interact and learn.

“(Kids) have an innate sense of fairness as Mary would often say,” Stookey said.

"What’s fair, what’s right? How to take turns, all of those things come up. It’s a very healthy experience, the way folk music is.” 

Yarrow and Stookey continue to perform in Travers’ memory and are working on their next book, “I’m In Love with a Big Blue Frog,” a social commentary on race. Yarrow said they recorded the song about eight or nine years into their career.

“I believe strongly that this music is the healing kind of music and it needs to be,” Yarrow said. “The country needs it,” he added, “particularly young people.”

When: 1 p.m. Monday, July 30

Where: Penguin Bookshop, 420 Beaver St., Sewickley. 

What: Peter Yarrow will sign copies of the book "It's Raining, It's Pouring," along with records, T-shirts and other paraphernalia. "People don’t have to buy anything," he said. "They can just come and say hello." 

Peter Yarrow’s book signings extend from his non-profit organization, “Operation Respect,” which launched in 1999 and initiated the “Don’t Laugh at Me” program that targets bullying and is featured in thousands of schools. Through dialogue, but more importantly, through song, children learn to accept eachother's differences and shortcomings. 

Yarrow plans to sing the song at Penguin Bookshop. He’ll also make a stop in Pittsburgh at a national convention where he's participating in a technology program for children with special needs. 

Noel "Paul" Stookey and his daughter have co-founded Music2Life , an initiative that offers new ways for musicians to use music for social change. Peter Yarrow said the nonprofit is “absolutely extraordinary.”

“It all goes to building the work of trying to bring this world into a more loving and spiritual place,” Yarrow said.

Working to promote peace and social change is nothing new for Yarrow and Stookey. Peter, Paul & Mary rose to national prominence when they sang at the 1963 March on Washington, on the same historic day that Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.

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