Kid Tributes to Mom: Art and Songs

From sunny Mother’s Day craft activities and happy children’s songs about teddy bears and choo-choo trains to a dark journey into gothic tales involving good but singularly unlucky children, Saturday’s offerings at the Storyopolis art gallery and bookstore are eclectic indeed.

In the “Mother’s Day Eve Craft, Story and Concert Hour,” kids ages 3 and up can put their artistic talents to work and create a gift for mom’s day. Afterward, author Doug Wood will read his book, “What Moms Can’t Do,” a follow-up to his best-selling “What Dads Can’t Do.”

Then Ralph Covert, a Chicago-based folk singer, will perform songs from his critically acclaimed first children’s CD, “Ralph’s World.”

This acoustic collection of mostly original sing-along and activity songs was created for maximum adult as well as child appeal. Besides his own songs, Covert includes the Sherman Brothers’ “Winnie the Pooh” theme, “Ragtime Cowboy Joe” and other fitting tunes.

In the afternoon, older kids (ages 7 and up) and parents with a penchant for the darker side can listen to author Lemony Snicket read from “The Miserable Mill,” the latest book in his perversely gleeful “A Series of Unfortunate Events” collection about the ever-mounting, tragic misadventures of the very good Baudelaire orphans.

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* “Mother’s Day Eve Craft, Story and Concert Hour” and “Lemony Snicket Reading and Book Signing,” Storyopolis, 116 N. Robertson Blvd., Plaza A, Pacific Theatres building, L.A.. Saturday, 11:30 a.m., “Craft, Story and Concert Hour,” $6; 3 p.m., “Lemony Snicket,” free. Ralph Covert will also perform Saturday at 3 p.m. at Borders Books, 5055 S. Plaza Lane in Montclair.