Punk children's book

Rocker's a hit with real punks

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub, Chronicle Pop Culture CriticTuesday, November 13, 2007
The scene at Bookshop West Portal in San Francisco looks like your typical punk rock concert. The musicians carry their own instruments and socialize with their fans before the performance. Members of the audience dance with no inhibition. And even though a couple of people may be spitting up in the back of the room, everyone still leaves having had a good time.

This is the latest side project for Bouncing Souls lead singer Greg Attonito, a veteran punk rocker who teamed up with his songwriter wife, Shanti Wintergate, to write a children's book. The tattoos worn by their target audience may be temporary, but the music is very real for the pair, who have been traveling to book stores and elementary schools across the country - playing original children's songs and reading from "I Went for a Walk," which Wintergate wrote and Attonito illustrated while touring with his band.

The songs are kid friendly but parent accessible, and the artwork in the book has an edgy, almost dreamlike quality that wouldn't look out of place on the front of a punk rock album. Wintergate and Attonito said they had the offspring of punk fans in mind when they wrote the book and the songs.

"It's not just a parent telling their kid, 'Here's something that I'm stoked about,' " Attonito says. "I think of this as a bridge between what the punk rock fan likes and what their kid is stoked about."..