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.