Book/CD Sets about Music

This week's books are all about music. But this is an odd subject for books. Music is sound. Sure, you can write about music, but wouldn’t it be nicer if you could hear it? So I searched and found some music books that also had CDs to back them up. Yay!

I’ve had great fun listening to these. I hope you will, too.

A Child’s Celebration of Classical Music [part of the Music for Little People series]

This CD has 7 tracks.

• In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg (very exciting!)
• Sleeping Beauty by Maurice Ravel (The waltz when Sleeping Beauty wakes up.)
• Gerald McBoing Boing by Gail Kubik (not my favorite)
• Music Box by Bobby McFerrin (He does all the sounds with his voice.)
• Tubby the Tuba by George Kleinsinger (an old story from when I was a kid)
• Water Music by G.F. Handel (famous classical tune)
• Peter the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev (I LOVE this story! Another one from my childhood.)

A Young Person's Guide to Music by Neil Ardley with music by Poul Ruders

I think this book and CD set would be best for someone who is already familiar with classical music. The book is dense with information
and the CD has music with no narration. If classical music is already your thing, this is for you.

Beethoven Lives Upstairs [book] by Barbara Nichol

Beethoven Lives Upstairs [CD] by Classical Kids

Although the book could be read by itself, you’d miss all the great music by Beethoven. The CD could be listened to without the book, but
then you’d miss the fantastic illustrations. I’d definitely use both together. Outstanding!

If you enjoy this set, Mr. Bach Comes to Call is also available in book and on CD.

The Magic Flute retold by Anne Gatti, illustrations by Peter Malone (book with CD)

The book retells the story of Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute. The CD provides musical excerpts to go along with the text. The illustrations are beautiful and the music is, too. I am a huge Mozart fan, so I loved this set.

Can You Hear It? by William Lach and illustrated by art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

This book is pure genius. It combines paintings from the Metropolitan Museum of Art with pieces of music. Each art-music combination is matched with prompts, asking us to listen for ways the music tells a story. Very fun.

You may have noticed that all these book/CD sets are about classical music. I like them, but I'd also hoped to find sets that show other kinds of music, like rock and roll, folk, reggae, hip hop and jazz. No luck. However, I’ll keep looking . Do you or your parents know of any? PLEASE write them in the Comments box!

Gail