Kids review the Children's Festival: "Everyone was like, 'Whoa!'"

Children's Festival. Children's words.

When an internationally acclaimed performance-art festival is in Seattle, it only makes sense to ask Seattle-area children what they think of it.

We sent out a troop of youngsters to catch some of the acts on stage during the first two days. Our crew: 9-year-old classmates Emma Baron and Marni Lehman, third-graders at Summit K-12 School in Seattle; Grace Bucklew, 7, a first-grader at Seattle's New School at South Shore; George Sheh, 9, Our Lady of Fatima Parish School, third grade; Gabby Hall, an 11-year-old sixth-grader from East Ridge Elementary, Woodinville; and Kevin Keogh, the 10-year-old son of Seattle Times freelancer Tom Keogh, who previewed this festival in last week's Ticket. Kevin, of Edmonds, is in fourth grade at Edmonds Homeschool Resource Center.

Here's what they had to say.

— Raina Wagner, Seattle Times Ticket editor

Grace Bucklew, 7, on H'Sao, a hip-hop group from Chad, and "Share This Place," a show featuring live music and stop-motion animation from Northwest artists Mirah, Spectratone International and Britta Johnson. She also checked out the hands-on Discovery Centers.

The best: I liked the first show, H'Sao, because it was so loud and wild, and I like loud and wild things. They were from Chad, and then they came back here to celebrate. They taught us part of the songs, but I was too shy to sing. The one person who was singing and playing the instruments called three girls and three boys up. One of my classmates went up. I was too shy.

I have to admit ... The second show, "Share This Place," wasn't really that good because I almost fell asleep. There were instruments that people played and a woman that sang songs that went with the music and there was a screen where you could see bugs that went with the music. She was singing about the bugs.

What the bugs looked like: They weren't real bugs, they were just made up bugs with different things. Like one bug had the things that go around your ears on sunglasses — those were the feet of the bug. On another bug, there was kind of this cloth and it was wrapped around something and the cloth got tied up to make the legs. And the eyeballs? They were weird — I didn't even know what they were made of.

A hands-on festival: We got to go to these crafts at the Discovery Centers. I liked making the kite, but I didn't have time to make a shadow puppet. That's OK — I already know how to make a shadow puppet with my hands, and I made one. It was a dog. Your thumb is the ear, you point your finger curled up for the eye and your pinkie is the mouth.

Emma Baron, 9, on "Luminous Edge," with juggler Thomas Arthur, and "Share This Place"

The most incredible thing I saw: The juggler. He was three characters and he was amazing. He made it look like the balls were coming out of nowhere. He made it look like he was twirling a piece of string. He was juggling and rolling balls through a tube and catching them while juggling. It was really amazing and it was really cool.

They asked us to be quiet but ... The one time it was really loud was when he was juggling glowing red balls. It was dark and the balls were glowing and showing in the dark. Everyone was like, "Whoa!"

Buggin' out: The songs in "Share This Place" were all about bugs. They were singing about their lives. One of the songs was about finding out what a bug eats. Like a dung beetle: It rolled up different kinds of moldy food to eat, and then it was a home for its babies.

My favorite bug song: It's hard to pick. I kind of liked them all. I really liked the first one, it was about a fly. It was all fun!

Kevin Keogh, 10, on H'Sao and the music/circus troupe Les Parfaits Inconnus (The Perfect Unknowns), from Quebec.

Get up and dance: H'Sao, a group of singers and musicians originally from the African country of Chad but now living in Montreal, Canada, get people on their feet and dancing. They blend African music with American influences such as hip-hop, gospel, and rock 'n' roll. The band was always friendly, inviting kids to the stage to dance. Every now and then members of H'Sao would start dancing. That made a lot of people in the crowd want to participate by moving around.

They speak French, you know: Many of H'Sao's songs are in French, but that shouldn't discourage anyone from seeing them. You'll still like their music. They talked in French to those folks in the crowd who said they could speak that language.

International ambassadors: H'Sao's music made me very energized. The crowd at Fisher Pavilion was really pleased by what it heard. It was good to hear music from other parts of the world. H'Sao does a really good job of being ambassadors of African music.

An acrobatic show: The Perfect Unknowns are like circus people but cooler. These clowns in suits are acrobats, musicians and comedians. The oddball performers come on stage wearing bags on their heads and taking slow, small steps as if they were nervous. After they remove the bags, they play music that sounds like strange rock and roll, but it's really cool. At one point one of the clowns did amazing tricks such as flipping upside down on a pole with his feet. Later he played clarinet while standing on the handlebars of a bicycle.

Like something from my childhood: The Perfect Unknowns, who make sounds but don't really speak, reminded me of Mr. Noodle, the silent clown in a suit played by Bill Irwin on "Sesame Street." They did crazy stunts, they play eccentric music, and they make kids happy.

Gabby Hall, 11, on Los Patita de Perro, a kid-rock band from Mexico, and the Discovery Centers.

Nonsmoker for life: I enjoyed the Germs/Health center the most because it was fun but also educational. I think this is something created for kids but adults could learn from it, too. At one station they told you about the danger of smoking. The most important thing I learned was that when you smoke, your lungs turn black and you can increase your risk of cancer.

Gimme pizza! I also liked the station where you learn the nutritional facts of different types of food. A fascinating fact was that mixed nuts have more fat than a slice of pizza or a hot dog.

Eew, gross! My absolute favorite in the whole center was the Germ City. You pick an object that you think has a lot of germs. I picked a pen. Then you go into a tent type area with a black light. All of the germs will light up. I thought it was really gross until the volunteer told me that a special powder — not germs — made the pen glow. But there really were that many germs on the pen.

Rockin' out: Three brothers are in the band Los Patita de Perro, an all-rock band that told a story with each song. I really liked the way the band interacted with the kids by letting the kids come on stage and dance around. My favorite song was a freeze dance song where they would all of a sudden stop the music and it would be silent.

George Sheh, 9, on Circo Teatro Udi Grudi, a troupe from Brazil that performed two shows at the festival, "O Cano" (Pipe) and "Ovo" (Egg). George saw "Ovo."

Something I've never thought to do: The three men in Udi Grudi could make musical instruments out of garbage. They ate fire and paper cups and other things that aren't food, like masking tape. They were funny and energetic.

Another language: They spoke mostly in Portuguese and sometimes they sang, but it didn't matter if we understood them. The audience enjoyed it. There was a lot of laughing. It was a thrilling performance.

Marni Lehman, 9, on "Luminous Edge," with juggler Thomas Arthur.

Where did all those balls come from? At the Children's Festival we saw Thomas the Juggler, and he was amazing! He made juggling look like the balls were coming out of nowhere. Thomas can juggle from under his legs to the top of his head. He can juggle very fast and makes it seem as if you see one ball but it is actually three.

Sound and visual effects: He tells a story as he goes on with the juggling. He makes a lot of noises that I can't make at all. He is three different people, characters such as a wizard. He has a screen that goes with what he is showing. The screen comes on right after or before a character. Thomas makes things on the screen look real. He will make his shadow go in the middle of the screen like walking through it. He makes special noises while he is juggling the balls. He also has a squiggly piece of metal that he moves hand-over-hand to make it look like it is coming up from the ground and never ends. He has a piece of wood that he can make look like a snake. He has rocks that he can make look like a snowman and has lots of stuff that he can make look real.

The show stopper: He can juggle in the dark with three glow-in-the-dark balls that are red. Thomas puts a ball in one way, and it comes out another. He makes one ball go all the way around in a circle. He makes three balls go around at the same time. He was juggling things behind his back and rolling them on his arm, and it was amazing!