New York Magazine, January 24-31, 2005
A Troubadour Trail Upgrading from “Twinkle, Twinkle”
As a weekend headliner at clubs like Tramps in the early nineties, Wendy Gelsanliter was a modest success as a singer and acoustic guitarist. But when she switched to gigs that start before lunchtime, her career really took off. Gelsanliter is at the forefront of a wave of musicians, raised on rock since the seventies, who make good music that's also kids' music. Several Manhattan and Brooklyn clubs now schedule Sunday-morning concerts for the junior set. At brunchtime this week, Gelsanliter will be at Park Slope's Southpaw to play her whimsical, textured folksy rock, layered with lyrics as fun and simple as “Ants Wear Underpants” and “Itty Bitty Kitty in New York City.” She's her own booker, producer, and marketing agent — she made her first CD by depleting her savings account — and her recordings are doing well, she says, thanks in great part to Amazon and sales at concerts. Gelsanliter, along with kids' music faves Laurie Berkner, Del Fuegos rocker Dan Zanes, and the downtown jazz artist Hayes Greenfield — not to mention the ever-entertaining They Might Be Giants — have brought the genre several giant steps up the ladder of musical legitimacy and, perhaps more important, listenability. Bennet Kleinberg, a kids' concert promoter, says it's really about the wishes of parents who want kids' albums that adhere to their increasingly sophisticated tastes. “The cool thing is that most of this new music is coming from independent artists,” he says. “They're rarely overnight successes, but they're good success stories.”

The City Parent Handbook, 2004
Live music for children has been one of the loveliest developments of the last few years, as performers of the `70s, `80s and `90s discovered the joys of parenthood themselves and turned their talents to composing and performing family music. Not for city kids the dulcet strains of the Barney theme song. Nope they get real music. New York's Wendy Gelsanliter is a perfect example. Having grown up in a bunch of cities herself, she really gets the city swing. As a longtime folk performer (compared by reviewers to Shawn Colvin and Suzzy Roche), she's played at some of the top spots in the city. And as a teacher and parent, she really understands kids. Put it all together and you get tot tunes that are witty, musical and easy on the ears of parents and kids alike.

Family Fun, May 2003
Sweet-voiced Wendy Gelsanliter cooks up a sunshiny preschool album filled with tot-magnet lyrics and agreeable acoustic-pop arrangements. A particular standout is ”Lost and Found,” a cautionary but reassuring first-person account of a child who's separated from Mom at a department store.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel December 17, 2002
Singin' Kids Giddy
It's hard to resist a CD called “Ants Wear Underpants.” Wendy Gelsanliter's whimsical tunes for children tell fine, funny stories wrapped in very singable music. The sound is a mix of Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin; Gelsanliter's light trill is reminiscent of Aimee Mann's. But with lyrics such as "Sometimes I make these noises/That come out my loud mouth/Honking like some gassy geese/Heading north to south,” comparisons with all mopey female singer-songwriters ends. A child lost in a department store is as dark as it gets in Gelsanliter's musical universe. And that's a good thing.

Gelsanliter's first CD, “Dancin' in the Kitchen” ($12) reflects a first-timer's caution. But she hits her loopy stride in "Ants Wear Underpants" ($15), with many of the hippest tunes written by fellow teacher and musician Andrea Loomis Towey.

South Florida Parenting October 2002
Gelsanliter and her collaborator, Andrea Loomis Towey, are mothers of young children who know how to make kids laugh. Check out “Itty Bitty Kitty in New York City” or the title tune “Ants Wear Underpants”, from Gelsanliter's 2001 release. Or go back to the beginning with the uproarious “Dancing in the Kitchen” or the remake of John Prine's “Dear Abby”, with hysterical lyrics rewritten from a kid's viewpoint.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review October 2002
Gelsanliter, a New York mom who performs updated folk music with an acoustic guitar and little else, has Shel Silverstein's flair for understanding the minds of the 10 and under set... Gelsanliter can stand up to repeated spins in the CD player without ever alienating adults. The rhymes are easy to remember without being cliche. Songs such as “LMNOP” on the “Ants” CD, which creatively uses a Western-movie backdrop to address the alphabet, would be perfect for a show like “Sesame Street”.

Parenting Magazine, Parenting Pick 3-5 years September 2001
This imaginative mom and preschool teacher sings whimsical folk tunes and streetwise ditties about dancing ants and little bitty kitties in New York City.

US WEEKLY April 9-16, 2001
Wendy Gelsanliter kicks off her new album, Ants Wear Underpants, with a charmer called “Itty Bitty Kitty in New York City”, about a cat who ascends from cardboard-box critter to “king of the street.” Expect similarly big things from the singer-guitarist herself, whose deft musicality and vocal agility (imagine a mix of Mary Chapin Carpenter and Natalie Merchant, with Dolly Parton's twang thrown in for good measure) grace a collection that effortlessly slides from rockabilly (“Head and Shoulders”) to jazz (“Pajamason”) to wind-down-time ballad (“Eeenie Meenie Miny Mo”).

School Library Journal October 2001
...Children will enjoy Gelsanliter's pleasant alto voice and singing along with these child-friendly tunes.

Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review February 1999
Gelsanliter's warm, folk-tinged vocals (sometimes reminiscent of Suzy Roche and Phoebe Snow) wrap comfortably around the mostly original tunes on her first recording for children. As she sings, Gelsanliter also skillfully plays guitar and percussion throughout and is complemented by the fine musicianship (guitar and percussion) of Frank Christian who produced the recording and Ronnie D'Addario (who provided chicken squawks and other nifty sound effects). One of the brightest selections the title song “Dancin' in the Kitchen” -- a lively, bluesy number about a family that cuts a rug while cooking dinner -- was published as a picture book last fall (Putnam).