Baker Artist Portfolios

The word “influence” is used a lot among present-day on-screen personalities. As a student of children’s media history, Danny “Danny Joe” LaBrecque understands that you can’t control the actions of others, but you can influence them with your own actions. A “talking head” on any screen, for any target age group, has a deep responsibility. Many hosts tell viewers “what” and “how” to think and feel, but Danny is much more interested in guiding his audience through the process of thinking critically for themselves and feeling compassion deeply for others. This is especially important as the dangers of commercialism, manipulation, conditioning, and propaganda are becoming more pervasive and subtle.

Danny is the creator and host of the streaming preschool series, Danny Joe’s Tree House, certified with a SENSICAL SELECT™ badge on Sensical.tv, backed by Common Sense Media, which has rated the show with four stars. Danny Joe’s Tree House works to create healthy social-emotional habits at an early age, fostering age-appropriate conversations about complex topics that can support long-term practices for families as they grow together. In addition to the traditional passive screen, Danny Joe also brings regular interactive live-stream and in-person versions of the show into early childhood classrooms.

From hand-crafted puppets, miniature and life-size film sets, to original songs and layered storylines, the world of Danny Joe’s Tree House has been brought to life over decades of creative work as an artist. Danny and his partner, Stefani Foster LaBrecque, a filmmaker and photographer, produce the show independently, as a two-person production team, from their home studio in Baltimore. Driven by an abundance mindset, Danny finds opportunities to collaborate with and spotlight local artists on the show to highlight their own work as performers, musicians, and caregivers. Danny scripts Danny Joe's Tree House to respectfully reflect and respond to the inner needs of children and their grownups as we face the existential threats of this social moment. In December 2024, an episode of Danny Joe’s Tree House won an inaugural Velma Award, a new award given out by The Rainbow Project, whose mission it is "to acknowledge the brave creators who push the boundaries of queer storytelling in order to produce positive mirroring for a new generation."

Danny has worked in the field of early childhood development for 25 years, serving as a preschool teacher in Chicago and Baltimore. As lead curriculum developer for early childhood programs at the Field Museum of Natural History, he helped to create and maintain the Crown Family PlayLab early learning space, while also studying Applied Behavioral Science with an Early Childhood Development focus at National Louis University.

Danny is a classically trained performer in theater, clowning, movement and dance. Early in his academic career, he studied children's illustration and sculpture at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and later, circus arts at The Actors Gymnasium in Evanston, Illinois. Danny is also a student of classic children's television and is a proud member of the Children’s Media Association. He enjoys reflecting on the medium, then and now, through conversations with respected children's media professionals on his podcast, Cookies for Breakfast with Danny LaBrecque.