Here is a collection of five books that provide readers with the chance to explore different aspects of music – meanings of musical terms, the joy and magic of self expression, sounds that inspire us, genres of music that make us move, the musical imagination, and how music connects us to others.  These are some of my favourites and I hope they add to your enjoyment of listening to and learning about music!

Kitamura, Satoshi.  Igor, the Bird who Couldn’t Sing. London: Andersen Press 2005

With humour and sensitivity, Satoshi Kitamura describes how it feels to have a musical soul, but not musical “talent”.  Igor wants to sing with the other birds, and though he tries, and practices and takes lessons, he is laughed at by his more talented peers.  Everywhere he goes he meets different musical types and his confidence goes downhill.  Discouraged and down-hearted, Igor flees to an empty desert.  Inspired by a beautiful sunset, he sings joyfully, thinking no one can hear him.  To his surprise he awakens a dodo that joins in his song, and truly appreciates his unique voice.  The simple story and bright illustrations capture the joy, beauty and sense of community that music can bring to our lives, and encourage us to just sing!

Krull, Kathleen. M is for Music. Orlando: Harcourt, 2003

“M is for music, music teachers, mistakes and Mozart” is just one of the inviting sentences to be found in this unusual alphabet book.  Embedded in Stacy Innerst’s dream-like paintings are images of musicians, instruments, and words for musical terms and styles.  Readers can hunt for intriguing words from aria to zither, count words on each page, and try to group the words (e.g., by instrument, artist or style).  The book begins with inspirational quotes and concludes with a glossary that defines terms and provides details about composers, instruments and music history.  While encouraging alphabetic awareness, this lovely book welcomes young readers into the rich world of music and provides a window into the breadth of its beauty.

Ehrhardt, Karen. This Jazz Man. Orlando: Harcourt, 2006

Sung to the tune of ‘This Old Man’ Ehrhardt’s be-bopping book invites readers to learn about numbers, instruments, rhythm patterns and jazz greats like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.  R.G. Roth’s gorgeous mixed media collages and prints bring motion and joy to the text, and include musical phrases such as “hop-step-sliiiide!” and “doodly-doodly-doot-doot!” and “thimp dumple thump-thump!” – a playful
opportunity to imitate snapping fingers, tapping feet, congas, trumpets, pianos and more.  The conclusion of the book includes some biographical information about well-known artists and their contribution to the music world. What a wonderful introduction to jazz!

Pinkney, J. Brian. Max Found Two Sticks. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1994

Pinkney’s perfect book introduces readers to Max and his friends and family as he spends a day making his own music with found objects like sticks, bottles, buckets and hat boxes.  As he taps different rhythms he hears them reflected in sounds around him like pigeons flying, rain falling, church bells ringing and trains rattling by. Readers can participate in the music making, either tapping rhythms on their laps or repeating phrases like, ‘putter putter pat-tat’, ‘dong-dang-dung’ and ‘cling clang da-BANG!’ The exquisite details in Pinkney’s scratchboard illustrations capture the rich life of Max’s neighbourhood and the sounds he attends to in his day to day life.  Though Max does not talk until the end of the story, the sounds he makes speak volumes about his unique ability to express himself through music with whatever is available to him.

Carle, Eric. I See a Song. New York: Crowell, 1973

This is a bright and beautiful book that speaks to the musical imagination.  What makes it unique is the absence of words, which provides a wonderful opportunity to discover what children know (or would like to know) about music, by making space for their words.  Eric Carle’s artwork suggests all kinds of moods, patterns and ways to move.  By asking children open-ended questions, such as “How does that picture make you feel?” or “What kind of sound does that picture make you hear?” or “Who can use their body to move like the shapes in this picture?” children can construct and describe their own understandings about music and movement.  As an extension to reading the book, you could play different styles of music and encourage children to paint or create torn paper collages inspired by the illustrations.  This book allows children to deepen their understanding of music using even more than the sense of sound.

As a follow-up to the last blog entry, here is a collection of wonderful picture books that focus on noticing and listening to sounds.  These books can be used to encourage children to pay attention to, and even to imitate the distinctive sounds they hear – in different environments, in the city and the country, and throughout each of the seasons – and to consider how sounds can make us feel.

Gershator, Phillis. Listen, Listen.  London: Mantra Lingua, 2008

This is a gorgeous dual language book that introduces children to both the sights and sounds of each season.  With each turn of the page readers can hear insects singing, leaves rustling, acorns dropping, geese honking, rain pattering and snowflakes whispering.  Children will enjoy searching for different things related to each season – frogs, mice, crickets, owls – in Alison Jay’s beautiful illustrations.  At the end of the book we revisit different animals, and children can imitate the sounds they make!

Martin, Bill and John Archambault. Listen to the Rain. New York: H. Holt, 1988

James Endicott’s clean and delicate illustrations capture the different sounds and moods of rain described in the text.  For example, whispering raindrops fall gently upon a seashell, singing raindrops steadily pitter patter on a fish in the pond, ocean waves  crash as rain roars, and a butterfly soars as we listen to the silence that follows a rain shower.  This is a perfect book to read as part of an exploration of the weather and to encourages children to think about feelings inspired by the rain.

Pearson, Debora. Big City Song. New York: Holiday House, 2006

Lynn Rowe Reed’s bright and fun illustrations capture the spirit of all the different sounds that can be heard in the city – vehicles, people, pets and pigeons, radios and church bells, to name a few.  From the time the sun comes up and we hear the street cleaner sweeping, until the time that the full moon glows and we hear raccoons banging rhythms on garbage cans, readers can enjoy the ‘symphony of sounds’ in the city!  Create lists of city sounds that children  like the most, or the least.  Which are quiet sounds?  Which are loud?  What kinds of sounds can children make to describe the ones they have experienced in their own lives?

Showers, Paul.  The Listening Walk. New York: Crowell, 1961

Aliki’s simple illustrations follow a father and daughter as they take their dog on a ‘listening walk’ along the sidewalk, through the park, by the pond and home again.  The little girl does not talk, but instead focuses on many different sounds both loud and quiet (e.g., car tires that go whrrrrrrrrr, jack hammers that go dak-dak-dak, crickets that go creet-creet-creet and wind that goes shhhhhhh). The book provides an invitation to walk around the block and listen to sounds, or discover the ones in your own yard or home.  Readers can list all the sounds they notice after closing the book!

Wolff, Ferida. It is the Wind.  New York: HarperCollins, 2005

James Ransome’s exquisite paintings capture the beauty and tranquility of the country. As a little boy prepares for sleep, he leans toward the window and notices different sounds and tries to guess what they are – an owl hooting, a gate creaking, crickets singing, sheets rustling on the line, and many others.  The repetitive text reads like a soothing lullaby that concludes with the wind sighing ‘good-night.’  Readers can be encouraged to imitate the different sounds, and share the kinds of sounds they hear before falling
asleep.

“Sound, because it is so intimate, immediate, and physical, is probably the most influential of our senses.” ~ Bernie Krause