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Peter Yarrow, legendary singer, songwriter, and more recently children's book author, will appear at the Shimon and Sara Birnbaum JCC in Bridgewater Thursday, Dec. 10, just in time for Hanukkah.

Yarrow was part of the legendary folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary and is the author of the children's books "Puff the Magic Dragon" and the recently released "Day is Done," both based upon popular songs of the group.

"In the world of art today, for a folk singer to sell a million records is virtually unheard of, though ["Puff the Magic Dragon"] has sold a million copies or will have by this Christmas season," Yarrow told The Jewish State.

"Day is Done," illustrated with watercolors by Caldecott Honor-winning artist Melissa Sweet, celebrates the loving bond between a parent and child.

Accompanying the book is a CD featuring Peter Yarrow's new recording of "Day Is Done," plus two lullaby folksongs: "Dona, Dona, Dona" and "I Know Where I'm Going," performed with Yarrow's daughter, Bethany, in the spirit of the book's theme of the parent-child relationship.

"Business as usual has side-barred this type of music and the success of 'Puff' signals an opportunity for a very important change in what has been a very dry period for folk music for a long time in being able to get exposure and generate sales," Yarrow said.

Over the last decade, Yarrow has also been involved with Operation Respect, a global initiative to address the problem of school violence through music and education, and to promote an environment of tolerance in schools.

The educational program, co-directed by Yarrow and Dr. Charlotte Frank, senior vice president of McGraw Hill, was founded in 2000 and has been implemented in about 22,000 schools in the U.S. and has been translated and implemented in schools in Hong Kong, South Africa, and Croatia, and is currently being translated into Hebrew and Arabic in order to be incorporated into schools in Israel. Yarrow was inspired to start the project after hearing the song, "Don't Laugh at Me," written by Steve Seskin and Allen Shamblin. "You don't have to be my friend/But... Don't laugh at me, don't call me names/Don't get your pleasure from my pain," the song goes, describing the experience of a child who has been bullied.

After hearing that song, Yarrow recalled, "I said, Aha! Here we have the essence of the kind of sensibility that needs to be embraced."

Yarrow speaks passionately about the need to educate children to embrace tolerance and mutual respect rather than hate.

"We have a nation absorbed in a type of self-destructiveness in terms in the way in which we're allowing our kids to grow up and a lot of their education takes place outside of the school when they see commercial television that is the worst type of instruction," he said.

The power of music, Yarrow explained, can be used as a tool to promote the message of respect.

"I know from marching and organizing that music was not just a cosmetic part of these efforts, music was really a bonding force," he said.

For Yarrow, Operation Respect and "Day is Done" are both part of the same effort to use music and song as instruments of social change.

"We are teaching our kids to reject each other, to hate each other, and the cycle must be broken," he said. "But the cycle cannot be broken by adults who bought into that cycle and embrace it. We must have the children teach us and that is what music can do and that is what the song 'Day is Done' is all about."

He added: "We need to rejuvenate the spirit of our hearts, and we need that new perspective to be brought to us through the inspiration and the 'heartfullness' and the caring of kids who have not been brought up to hate."

Peter Yarrow will be at the Shimon and Sara Birnbaum JCC (775 Talamini Road, Bridgewater) Thursday Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m. For children 12 and under, tickets are $5 in advance and $10 at the door. For those 13 and over, tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. To order, call (908) 725-6994 ext. 201.