Meet the Orchestra - Austin Coe

Meet the Orchestra by Ann Hayes is a fun little story about different animals playing different instruments. The story tells of all the animals slowly gathering together for a performance that evening. The story introduces and explains each individual instrument using poetic descriptions and exciting illustrations.

This book would be perfect to teach students the different instruments of an orchestra. You would be able to use different vocabulary found in the book to describe what they sound like and what they do in an orchestra. This book would also be a great pre-teaching tool before showing your students what a real orchestra sounds like! This book overall is a great tool to use when teaching about classical music and the orchestral setting.

Zin Zin Zin! A Violin - Austin Coe

This story is a perfect way to introduce music and instruments commonly found in an orchestral setting. It also goes into detail about orchestral literature and performance. Even though the story has a clear pattern and rhythm it still allows for children to use their creativity. With exciting illustrations and great story telling the book is very good at teaching young musicians the importance of each instrument in an orchestra. This book would be excellent for early orchestra students in grades 3 and 4.  There is a large amount of terms and vocabulary that can be used in your musical lessons. The rhymes are clever and catchy and will definitely get your student's attention! Zin Zin Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss is definitely a book your student's will love.

Jazz Baby - Austin Coe

Jazz Baby by Carole Boston Weatherford is a fun and colorful children's book about jazz music. The book is full of riffs, rhythms, and freedom of jazz. It talks about different styles and their characteristics. It also depicts several different instruments that are common in jazz ensembles. The story is written in a way that it has a very jazzy beat as you read the story. This would make it great for introducing the style of jazz to young elementary musicians who are just starting to learn all the different genres of music. It will teach them the types of rhythms used in jazz and the common types of instrumentation used in it. The book also has beautifully colored pictures that would make it perfect for younger student's. 

Nina Chamberlin- Spring Goes Squish!

Nina Chamberlin: Spring Goes Squish! By Marty Kelley

This book follows a child as she experiences the season of spring. She describes her experiences through onomatopoeia. This is a very interesting way to look at music, because music is not simply pitches and lyrics. Music can be made by anything, including the effects of spring on the earth and human experiences. The children can read this book and ponder how the main character’s experiences are similar what they would call music, and how it is different. A class could even put together the onomatopoeia words and make them into a song, further  proving the point that music can come from anywhere.

Nina Chamberlin-Can You Dance, Dalila?

Nina Chamberlin: Can You Dance, Dalila? By Virginia Kroll

This book follows a child through her young life, and her journey through dance. She is introduced to many styles of dance, and each teaches her about different heritages and ways of expression. The musical part of the book is in the little girl’s interactions with the different types of dance. If I were to read this book to a class, I would ask them what they think the music would sound like for each different dance style, and then I would play an example to help connect different types of art together, as well as the vivid illustrations in the story. This book can also serve as a reminder to stay open to different cultures and ways of expression: a powerful lesson for children to learn.

Nina Chamberlin- Civil War Drummer Boy

Nina Chamberlin:

This book is very versatile because it touches on music as well as history. It follows a civil war dummer boy through his life before, during, and after the war. Although not a huge component, the book touches on the concept of slaves and death in war, but teaches a worthwhile lessons about the dark sides to war and the ability for the South to go on without unpaid labor from slaves. It can also teach children that both sides of wars suffer, and that one can gain sympathy and understanding through examining a different point of view. Although this book is a tad bit dark for younger readers, it can be a great story to link to any history lessons about the Civil War. It also illustrates how important music can be in a variety of situations, and not just a concert hall.

Nina Chamberlin, Piano Piano

Nina Chamberlin-

This book is a humorous story of a boy who strongly dislikes playing the piano, even though his mother insists he practices. The boy’s grandpa introduces him to new experiences outside of the piano, and he ultimately decides that he wants to pick up the tuba. Now, the boy loves practicing because he is passionate about the tuba. Lots of kids end up taking piano lessons much earlier before they are allowed to pick an instrument of their own, so many students can relate to this young boy’s struggles. A perfect takeaway from this book is that just because a student dislikes what they are currently doing, it does not mean that they hate music, or the broader version of what they feel forced to do. The little boy was a musician in his heart, after all! He just needed to find the kind of music that best suited him!

James McNair- Rhinoceros Tap

Rhinoceros Tap is a lighthearted early look into enjoying music, observing various rhythmic patterns in music, and developing familiarity with the written and spoken English language through repeated nonsensical and whimsical phonemes. Every song has an optional read-along track in which the text is sung with an accompanying jazz instrumental background. The text follows a verse phrase / ABACAetc. form, which is inviting for early readers to be able to latch onto the repeated section, and allows more developed readers/listeners to challenge themselves with the verse stanzas. Although the text itself is well designed for earlier readers, the playalong/read-along track is not. It takes a rather fast pace, and could be difficult for children to follow along with. Although the feel and context of the music otherwise is established, and the reader can clearly identify the 'dance', and can additionally envision the stories with ease through the facility of the music, the ability for the readers to pick up on the text is hurt by this. The nonsensical repeated phonemes are a strength of this book, however, if the play-alongs are used in conjunction with the text, using a DAW would be advised to slow down the songs.

Jeff Rollins- The Wheels on the School Bus

The Wheels on the School Bus

Written by Mary-Alice Moore

Illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith

This book has the words to the song “The Wheels on the School Bus” set to some beautiful art. There are many verses, with each verse incorporating a new school official saying something about what they do in the school. This could be used as a way to introduce other school officials into a music classroom. The vocabulary is appropriate for children in the early elementary school age level, and it certainly would be a good way to introduce the lyrics to the song before trying to teach the actual song. On the last page there is the sheet music to the song, so you could segue perfectly from teaching the vocabulary, to music reading as well.

Alison LeBeda - Ben's Trumpet

Ben's Trumpet by Rachel Isadora is another wonderful kid's book about how music is for everyone. It focuses on a little boy named Ben who is absolutely fascinated with Jazz and often spends his evenings listening to the sounds of the nearby jazz club. He walks around with his "trumpet" and pretends to play music for everyone to hear. He becomes discouraged when a group of other kids make fun of him because his horn is imaginary, but one of the musicians from the Jazz club offers to help Ben learn how to play a real instrument. Instruments can be expensive, but the moral of this story is to not let that discourage you from submerging yourself in music. It is a valuable lesson that can be taught to young people especially, and it's important to remind kids that they should always be motivated to continue their passions, no matter what they are.

Alison LeBeda - Violet's Music

Violet's Music by Angela Johnson is a great book for young kids who may not have had the opportunity to play "organized music" yet. This book centers around a young girl named Violet who even from when she was just hours old, was banging her rattle around because she just loved music. She made music everywhere she went, but she could never find anybody to play music with her (until the end of the story, of course). This story gives kids a great message of individuality. It teaches them that they don't need to be in an organized group of people in order to make music, nor do they need to do it a certain way. They can make music with anything they can get their hands on, as long as they're having fun doing it! We put so much emphasis on joining choirs and orchestras and bands, but music is for everyone and music is for everywhere, too.

M is for Melody: A Music Alphabet - Taylor Strom

M is for Melody: A Music Alphabet by Kathy- jo Wargin gives a music lesson is alphabetical form. The book contains the many different melodies of the brass section to the melodies of the keyboard.
Instruments, composers, terms, and even musical styles are examined from A-Z in easy, read-aloud rhymes all accompanied by colorful and vivid artwork. Teachers will find this very useful because it is not only teaching the alphabet to students, but it also making the students think about a bunch of different musical terms and how some of these terms can be related. 

I Know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello - Taylor Strom

I know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello by Barbara S. Garriel is a musical take on the old book, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. However, this take on the old classic has a surprise ending. In the book, a shy fellow ends up swallowing a cello, followed by many more musical instruments. He finally burps, belches, and bellows, creating music in a very unusual way. This book also has the illustrations of John O'Brien whose crazy and imaginative drawings really bring everything to life. This book would be beneficial for students to read because it would help the recognize the sounds of all of the different instruments. 

Alison LeBeda - Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin!

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss is an entertaining musical instrument story for children. It starts off with a single trombone, and with each page it gradually adds more instruments until by the end of the story, there is an entire orchestra. By using rhymes and the sounds of the musical instruments, it is a fun way to teach kids about the different instruments of the orchestra and what they sound like. While it is only a brief introduction of each instrument, it could very well spark some interest and encourage kids to maybe want to play a musical instrument in the near future. After reading this book, it might also be helpful to play recordings of each of the instruments measured so in addition to the onomatopoeias in the book, they have real life examples to associate with each instrument.

My First Classical Music Book - Taylor Strom

My First Classical Music Book by Genevieve Helsby is a colorful introduction to classical music, designed to bring out the imagination of children in elementary school. The readers (students) are asked to think about the different places in which they might hear music. As the book continues, each of the major composers and musical instrument families are introduced and brought to life in a vivid way. The book also comes with an accompanying CD so that the students will be able to hear the musical examples as they read. I think that this will really help with the students recognizing composers and the style in which each composer writes their music. This book would also be really useful because it will not only have the students recognizing the sound with the composer, but also using pictures as well. 

Wally Meets Mozart - Taylor Strom

Wally meets Mozart by Isgar Bos is a picture book for preschool children. Wally hears a beautiful melody coming from above the water, and he curiously follows the sound of the music. However, as Wally is following the tune, he is straying further and further from his home. Wally finally discovers who is making this beautiful music, and it is Mozart himself, playing the violin. When Wally decides to go back home, he realizes that he can not find his way back and he is lost and afraid. Wally comes up with an unexpected solution that is sure to warm the hearts of both children and teachers alike.  

Alison LeBeda - A is for Alliguitar

A is for Alliguitar by Nancy Day is a fabulous book for young children. By creatively combining animals with musical instruments, it gives the children a fun way to learn about the musical instruments and simultaneously learn animals. It also helps with the alphabet because it goes through the "musical alphabeasts" from A to Z. The illustrations are fabulous and fun as well! Reading this book could also help the students get creative because after reading the book, you could ask the students to create their own musical animals. Overall, this book is lots of fun and combines musical knowledge and literacy in more ways than one might initially think.

Vance Bollinger – Jazz A-B-Z: an A to Z collection of jazz portraits

By Wynton Marsalis

Illustrated by Paul Rodgers

Biographical sketches by Phil Schaap

As the title suggests, it is an A-Z collection of portraits done of many jazz artists, with an individualized illustration of each artist done by Paul Rodgers.  Each work of art reflects the musical style and personality of each individual musician.

Each illustration has a uniquely composed poem by Wynton Marsalis.  Very interestingly done, Marsalis wrote a poem in a different form for each individual, meaning there are 26 different types of poems in the book.  Not only that, but the poems correspond in some manner to the musical style of each artist.  For example, Basie loved the blues, so Marsalis wrote a blues poem to go along with the portrait of Count Basie. 

At the end of the book, there are biographical sketches of approximately 200 words for  This an amazingly educational book, because it ties together various poetry, art, and musical styles, along with biographical content.

each artist.