Picture Books (Not Necessarily Singable) Which Embrace MUSIC as an Important and Enriching Component of Our Lives
Posted on: July 24, 2011
Music is an incredibly important and enriching part of our lives. Music transcends many of the boundaries which separate people and it speaks, in its way, to everyone. Here are some books, though not necessarily singable, which capture the magical powers of music. For my own purposes in this blog, I believe that any musical enrichment for children is going to enhance the enjoyment of singing with Singable Picture Books.
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Ah, Music!
Written and Illustrated by Aliki Brandenberg
This book isn’t for singing, but it is all about MUSIC. This book and wonderful illustrations teach about the components, music as art, the history of music, musical instruments, and much more. Knowing more about music can only increase one’s enjoyment and awe for its magic.
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An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth
By Col. Chris Hadfield
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The Bat Boy & His Violin
Story by Gavin Curtis
Illustrated by E. B. Lewis
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Behold the Bold Unbrellaphant (and other poems)
Poems by Jack Prelutsky
Underscore Music by Lucas Richman
Illustrated by Carin Berger
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Behold the Bold Umbreallaphant (Poems by Jack Prelutsky, Music by Lucas Richman)
Carnival of the Animals (Poems by Jack Prelutsky, Music by Camille Saint-Saens)
Performed by the San Diego Symphony Orchestra
Click here to preview the tracks:
http://www.amazon.com/Behold-Bold-Umbrellaphant-Jack-Prelutsky/dp/B005ZOGCHG/ref=sr_1_1_digr?ie=UTF8&qid=1347301466&sr=8-1
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Blues Journey
Poems by Walter Dean Myers
Music by
Illustrated by Christopher Myers
I hightly suggest the wonderful Audio Book created to go with this picture book, which musically brings the often singable text to life!
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Carnival of the Animals
Music by Camille Saint-Saens
Poems by John Lithgow
Illustrated by Boris Kulikov
More info here:
https://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/the-singable-picture-books-of-john-lithgow/
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The Carnival of the Animals
Poems by Jack Prelutsky
Composed by Camille Saint-Saens
Illustrated by Mary GrandPre
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The Carnival of the Animals
Poems by Ogden Nash
Composed by Camille Saint-Saens
Illustrated by Mary GrandPre
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Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa
Book by Veronica Chambers
Illustrated by Julie Maren
This book comes packaged with a CD.
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The Composer is Dead
Text by Lemony Snicket
Music by Nathaniel Stookey
Illustrated by Carson Ellis
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Days to Celebrate (A Full Year of Poetry, People, Holidays, History, Fascinating Facts, and More)
Poems Collected and Text Written by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Poems and Music by Various Artists
Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn
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The Django
Written and Illustrated by Levi Pinfold
(This book is not necessarily singable, but has the importance and love of music at its heart, inspired by the great banjo virtuoso Jean “Django” Reinhardt)
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Do Re Mi (If You Can Rad Music, Thank Guido d’Arezzo)
Book by Susan L. Roth (in association with Angelo Malfucci)
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Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite
Book by Anna Harwell Celenza
Illustrated by Don Tate
This book comes packaged with a CD
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The Extraordinary Music of Mr. Ives (The True Story of a Famous American Composer)
Written by Joanne Stanbridge
Illustrated by Joanne Stanbridge
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Fireworks, Picnics, and Flags (The Story of the Fourth of July Symbols)
Words and Music by Various Artsits
Book by James Cross Giblin
Illustrated by Ursula Arndt
This book features a chapter (including lyrics, song history, and illustrations) called “Patriotic Music and Songs.”
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Frederick
Story and Pictures by Leo Lionni
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Grasshopper’s Song (an Aesop’s Fable Revisited)
Written by Nikki Giovanni
Illustrated by Chris Raschka
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I See a Song
Text by Eric Carl
Illustrated by Eric Carl
In this book, the violinist says,
“Ladies & Gentlemen! I see a song. I paint music. I hear color. I touch the rainbow, and the deep spring in the ground. My music talks. My colors dance. Come, listen, and let your imagination see your own song.”
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Jazz
Poems by Walter Dean Myers
Music by Rob Mathes Music
Illustrated by Christopher Myers
CD Performed by James “D-Train” Williams and Vaneese Thomas and Various Artists
ISBN-13: 978-0823421732
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Jazz ABZ (an A-Z Collection of Jazz Portraits)
Written by Wynton Marsalis
Illustrated by Paul Rogers
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Jazz on a Saturday Night
Words by Leo & Diane Dillon
Music by Ira Ingber
Illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon
What a wonderful book this is! So much information in it, packed with facts, jazz greats, terrific art, and evocative music. Don’t let anyone tell you that one can’t great great things from picture books! The CD has 2 tracks, one a spoken essay about jazz and the second music for singing the rhyming text of the book! Rich and Fabulous!!
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Lean to Speak Music (a Guide to Creating, Performing, & Promoting Your Songs)
Book by John Crossingham
Design & Illustration by Jeff Kulak
Lentil
Written and Illustrated by Robert McCloskey
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Light the Candles! Beat the Drums! (a book of holidays)
Text by Jane Sarnoff
Illustrated by Reynold Ruffins
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Listen to Learn (Using American music to understand language arts and social studies, grades 5-8)
By Terri Tibbett
Words and Music by Various Artists
Includes:
“Lincoln Portrait” (by Aaron Copland)
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The Man with the Violin
Story by Kathy Stinson
Illustrations by Dusan Petricic
Postscript by Joshua Bell
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Marvin Makes Music
Written by Marvin Hamlisch
Illustrated by Jim Madsen
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Miss Rumphius
Story and Pictures by Barbara Cooney
“Do something to make the world more beautiful…” Miss Rumphius finds a wonderful way to do this…Emily thinks that when you sing to a child, you make the world more beautiful.
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Muiscophilia
By Oliver Sacks
Website dedicated to this book:
http://www.oliversacks.com/books/musicophilia/
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Passing the Music Down
Written by Sarah Sullivan
Illustrated by Bary Root
When you sing to or with a child, YOU are participating in this same process of Passing the Music Down.
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Ruby Sings the Blues
Story and Pictures by Niki Daly
This book is Not Necessarily Singable but it embraces the importance of music in our every day lives.
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Sing (Sing-A-Song Storybook)
Words and Music by Joe Raposo
Illustrated by Kenn Backhaus
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Singing Away the Dark
Written by Caroline Woodward
Illustrated by Julie Morstad
This story, in verse (that seems to cry out to be set to music) reminds me of the Henry Mancini song, “Whistling Away the Dark,”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEK4hsD_bNs
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Spirit Seeker (John Coltrane’s Musical Journey)
Written by Gary Golio
Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez
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Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! (a sonic adventure)
Written by Wynton Marsalis
Illustrated by Paul Rogers
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Sweethearts of Rhythm
Text by Marilyn Nelson
Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
This book is in the “Not Necessarily Singable” category, but this book is saturated with the power of music.
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Tabby McTat (The Musical Cat)
Written by Julia Donaldson
Illustrated by Axel Scheffler
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Tambourine Moon
Text by Joy Jones
Illustrated by Terry Widener
This book, though not necessarily singable, is filled with musical inspiration.
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This is Music for Kindergarten and Nursery School
Text by Adeline McCall
Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Published by Allyn & Bacon (1965)
I could find very little about this book…but music is in the title, so if I can’t get my hands on the real thing, I’ll keep looking for more info about its contents.
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Three Ladies Beside the Sea
Words by Rhoda Levine
Illustrated by Edward Gorey
This whimsical and enchanting book, written in verse, tells the story of three ladies for whom music is important…but for one of them, the memory of the song a passing bird, keeps her up a tree hoping to hear it again…
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The Trumpet of the Swan
Lyrics and Tunes by Various Artists
Book by E. B. White
Illustrated by Edward Frascino
ISBN: 0-439-83103-2
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What Charlie Heard
Written by Mordicai Gerstein
Illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein
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When Bob Met Woody (the Story of the Young Bob Dylan)
Writen by Gary Golio
Illustrated by Marc Burckhardt
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When Marian Sang
Words and Music by Various Artists
Text by Pam Munoz Ryan
Illustrated by Brian Selznick
This book is peppered throughout with songs that Marian Anderson sang throughout her wonderful life.
Songs include:
My Country ‘Tis of Thee
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Willie Was Different (A Children’s Story)
Written and Illustrated by Norman Rockwell
Hear the song of a wood thrush here: http://www.songbird.org/birds/woodthrush.htm
or here: http://www.birdjam.com/birdsong.php?id=32&osCsid=17k5flg24plve0td1rohdpij52
Although this is not a Singable Picture Book, it is about a wood thrush who sings and it is the only picture book Norman Rockwell created for especially for children. And, it is a real charmer about the JOY singing one’s own song can be to oneself and to others (and that is what I hope everyone will do with Singable Picture Books!).
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Words to My Life’s Song
Written by Ashley Bryan
Illustrated by Ashley Bryan
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Important Musical Works for Children Not all of Which are Illustrated
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Leonard Bernstein’s narration of “Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”
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Leonard Bernstein’s narration of “Prokofiev’s Peter & The Wolf”
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Leonard Berstein’s Narration of “Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals”
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Noye’s Fludde
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Langston Hughes’ narration of “The Story of Jazz”
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Note 3/9/2013
Since my start assembling this list, I discovered and began pinning to boards on Pinterest/SINGBOOKSWITHEMILY
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Visit here for a much more complete listing of:
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PINTEREST
NOT NECESSARILY SINGABLE, BUT MUSIC RELATED ON SING BOOKS WITH EMILY’S PINTEREST
Because of the ease of “Pinning” my PINTEREST list for Not Necessarily Singable but Music Inspired and Music Education Picture Books has overtime become more comprehensive than the list on my blog (please not, however that, though some have appeared in my blog, most are books I’ve discovered online)
http://pinterest.com/singbooksemily/music-inspired-and-music-education-picture-books/
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A terrific list of music education related picture books, here:
http://childrenspicturebooks.info/articles/introducing_music_education.htm
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Another terrific list here:
http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?go=1&searchbox_level=0.04&keyword_type1=subject&boolean=AND&keywords1=music
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Related Posts
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BASEBALL SONGS
The Singable Picture Books of Baseball
https://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/the-singable-picture-books-of-baseball/
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Music Related Picture Books from New York Times Book Review Special Children’s Book Section on 11/11/2012
https://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/11/18/music-related-picture-books-from-new-york-times-book-review-special-childrens-book-section-on-11112012/
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Books Take Flight in Imagination and Song
https://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/books-take-flight-in-imagination-and-song/
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NOT NECESSARILY SINGABLE, BUT MUSIC RELATED ON SING BOOKS WITH EMILY, THE BLOG
This is a list of Picture Books that are not necessarily singable, but which have appeared in my blog as books which embrace music as an important and enriching part of our lives. For a more comprehensive list (including books which have not yet made their way into the Sing Books blog) please see the Pinterest link just below this one:
https://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/picture-books-not-necessarily-singable-which-embrase-music-as-an-important-and-enriching-component-of-our-lives/
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NOT NECESSARILY SINGABLE, BUT MUSIC RELATED ON SING BOOKS WITH EMILY’S PINTEREST
Because of the ease of “Pinning” my PINTEREST list for Not Necessarily Singable but Music Inspired and Music Education Picture Books has overtime become more comprehensive than the list on my blog (please not, however that, though some have appeared in my blog, most are books I’ve discovered online)
http://pinterest.com/singbooksemily/music-inspired-and-music-education-picture-books/
2 Responses to "Picture Books (Not Necessarily Singable) Which Embrace MUSIC as an Important and Enriching Component of Our Lives"
January 25, 2016 at 1:02 am
I hope you don’t mind. I linked to this post on my blog for music sub lessons. http://musicsublessons.blogspot.com/2016/01/good-books-to-leave-with-sub-in-music.html Jan
Sing Books with Emily, the Blog 
June 24, 2015 at 7:49 pm
Wow, what a great collection of books that support music – we love these! Thank you! Do you ever have children create their own stories that express the importance of music in their lives?