FOR THE KIDS : Focus on Feelin’ Good and Feedin’ the Hungry : Caren Glasser brings her high-energy show to the Forum Theatre and asks concert-goers to bring canned foods.

If you want to give your kids an antidote to the rough-edged world around them, take them to see singer Caren Glasser at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza this weekend.

Glasser, a familiar face on the local children’s entertainment circuit, dishes out a feel-good-about-yourself-and-others message, wrapped in a high-energy performance.

She hits the stage in the Forum Theatre on Friday for two shows at 5 and 7 p.m. Advance tickets are $6.50; $1 more at the door. Her performances are part of the Conejo Valley Children’s Concert Series, sponsored by the Conejo Valley Adult Education School, The Oaks mall and AM-1590 Radio AAHS for kids.

Glasser’s shows are also a benefit for Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank. Those who attend are being asked to bring canned items to replenish the food bank’s shelves after the holiday rush to provide food for the needy.

For the past couple of years, Glasser, who lives in Agoura Hills, has been involved with efforts to feed the hungry. Her last album, “One Big Family,” includes the theme song for Food for the Hungry, an Arizona-based relief organization.

“It disturbs me that kids go to school hungry,” said Glasser, who is married to a psychiatrist and has a 9-year-old son. “It’s happening in our own community. I’ve got to do whatever I can.”

During Friday’s hourlong concerts, audience members will come up to the stage to deliver the canned goods. In fact, involving the audience in her performances is one of Glasser’s trademarks.

“I’m very interactive,” she said. “I’m in their laps.”

Her other trademark is her earrings. They dangle past her shoulders. She describes herself as petite, high-energy and very funky. She wears short little dresses and her hair is spiked.

Her music is for the 2- to 12-year-old set. It’s upbeat, sort of soft-rock for kids, with a warm and fuzzy feel. She doesn’t have a back-up band; she uses CD tracks. For the concerts, she will be doing tunes from her three albums, “There’s a Hippo in My Tub,” “There’s Nobody Else Like You” and “One Big Family.”

There are songs about family, humanity (“We Can Get Along”), the environment, animals (“Dogs Need Love Too”) and taking good care of yourself. She also does some old familiar tunes such as “Dancing in the Street” and “Make Your Own Kind of Music.”

“I don’t do rap,” she said.

Glasser got her start in children’s entertainment about 10 years ago when she linked up with her brother, Craig Taubman. They recorded two albums and did a “Music Box Concert” for the Disney Channel.

“That gave us a kick in the pants,” she said.

Taubman went on to form his successful group, Craig N Co., which performs its own brand of super-charged rock ‘n’ roll for kids. Glasser went solo, hooking up with the Kid Rhino recording label.

When The Oaks started its O.K. Kids Club, a weekly show featuring local children’s entertainers, Glasser was the emcee and a regular performer.

Lately, she’s become something of a radio personality. She hosts a one-hour program for Radio AAHS, featuring interviews with kid entertainers. The show is being syndicated to other major cities in Radio AAHS’s Children’s Satellite Network.

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Who says you have to color within the lines? Not Susan Striker, author of the “Anti-Coloring Book” series, which encourages children to use their imagination on art projects.

The book series is the focus of a free workshop for children at Barnes & Noble bookstore in Ventura on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Children can have fun with artistic challenges, like trying to create a drawing out of a picture of scissors, or designing a “wanted” poster.

It’s all billed by Barnes & Noble as an Anti-Coloring Book Party, aimed at kids 7 through 13 years. For information, call 339-9170.

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“Ama and the White Crane,” a story based on a Japanese folk tale, is the latest offering for kids from Hundred Hats Theater in Santa Paula. The show, about a girl who saves her village from demons, opens Saturday and runs Jan. 21, Jan. 28, Feb. 4 and Feb. 11, 2:30 p.m., at the theater, 125 S. 7th St., Santa Paula. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for children.

Details

* WHAT: Caren Glasser Concerts.

* WHEN: Friday, 5 and 7 p.m.

* WHERE: Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, Forum Theatre, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd.

* HOW MUCH: $6.50 in advance; $1 more at the door. Tickets available at Conejo Valley Adult School, 1025 Old Farm Road, and the Parenting Store, 2849 Thousand Oaks Blvd.

* CALL: 493-4348.