Columbia Campus Covered with Kids and Celebs

“The next band will be up in just a few minutes, after their sound check. Do you know what a sound check is?” Lisa Michaelis of kid-friendly singing group Laughing Pizza asked an audience of squirming children, harried parents, and slightly uncomfortable college students last Sunday. Nobody shouted up an answer, so Michaelis continued, “It’s when you check the sound.”

Columbia has seen a lot in the past few weeks, but there hasn’t been anything quite like the Great Children’s Read, sponsored by the New York Times and Target. On Sunday, kids and their caretakers descended upon the University’s campus in order to take part in a host of activities. In one area, they could watch New York celebrities read aloud from kiddie classics including Harriet the Spy and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay was poised when she picked up Charlotte’s Web. Still, she was slightly flustered at certain moments, when she stopped reading in order to gently implore her audience to “maybe come over to the side, so everyone can see.” NYPD Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly had no trouble commanding attention. His unique delivery made Green Eggs and Ham sound more like an interrogation than a fable about trying new foods on boats and with goats.

On South Lawn, right next to Lerner Hall, the Target Children’s Stage featured performances from bands like Justin Roberts and The Not Ready For Naptime Players, who delivered a twangy ditty entitled “(Takin’ Off) My Training Wheels,” and Choo-Choo Soul, a pair dressed like train conductors who, at one point during their set, enthusiastically began teaching their young fans how to beatbox—“Make a hissing noise, like a train!”

Luckily for parents with a low tolerance for songs about tricycles, a few of the day’s events appealed to adults as well as children. The most highly attended performance was They Might Be Giants’ 45-minute set, in which the seasoned indie rockers played both songs from their immensely successful kids albums and classics like “Dr. Worm,” “one song we’re contractually obligated to play at every show.”

The Giants also displayed a refreshing sense of humor. At one point, band member John Linnell talked about “celebrating our blue-state heritage by clapping on the backbeat.” Later, his partner John Flansburgh offered words of wisdom, saying, “Children, take my advice—get a different record company.”

The other main attraction of the Children’s Read was the appearance of Julie Andrews, of The Sound Of Music fame, with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton. The musical theater legend, who appeared on stage at both noon and 3:25, began both times with a curiously corporate message: “Target have been the most wonderful champions, for so many people, including me,” she said. Andrews and her daughter were promoting the Julie Andrews Collection, a set of books published by HarperCollins that “nurture the imagination and celebrate a sense of wonder,” according to Andrews’ Web site.

Andrews really came alive when she began taking questions from her captivated audience. She gamely demonstrated how to walk “like a princess” for a fan of The Princess Diaries and said her favorite books as a child were “Winnie the Pooh, Alice In Wonderland, and The Little Grey Men—all very English, very pastoral.”

At one point, a child asked her what her favorite role in a movie had been. Andrews’ reply was perhaps the high point of the Children’s Read: “What if I were to ask you, ‘Which puppy, in a beautiful basket of puppies, do you like the most?’ You might like this one because it’s cute and fuzzy, and this one because it’s strong and grumpy, and that’s how I feel about my roles.”