I recently bought a piano. Right before the coronavirus craziness I figured a good way to practice social distancing would be to pick up a hobby. I played piano as a child and loved it! I’ve always wanted buy one as an adult but the time never felt right (apartments are small and pianos are expensive!) I love my piano, and my two year old does too. We’ll sit together and play some keys. She likes being with mommy and hearing the music.
At night I like to have some music playing in the background. I have a classical piano playlist titled the Suzuki playlist. I’ll say, “Alexa, play the Suzuki playlist.” And Ava will chime in, “I LOVE Suzuki!” She’ll jump up and down on the couch (we need to dig out the trampoline!) in time to the music.
I’m so glad she enjoys music and am excited to expose her to more of it. For this post I was excited to review several musical books written for toddlers and small children.
Musical Books for Toddlers
Music can be a hard thing to translate to books, that’s why I especially love books that have music attached to them, either in CD form or buttons to push. My favorite is Welcome to the Symphony: A Musical Exploration of the Orchestra Using Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. This book is an introduction to the symphony orchestra and one of Beethoven’s most famous pieces. The push buttons play snippets of the melody, harmony, and sounds of different instruments in the orchestra.
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is a great song to introduce kids to classical music. Sometimes classical music can seem boring and not “catchy” but not this song. Da da da DUUUUUM! Ava was instantly intrigued when she heard that catchy phrase. Having the music to go along with the book really takes the reading experience to the next level. This book is recommended for children ages 4-8, but I think younger readers will enjoy it too. You really can’t go wrong with a book with buttons!
The Story Orchestra: Four Seasons in One Day is another book featuring musical notes to press and hear snippets of the music.
This book features music from Vivaldi’s classic Four Seasons and has beautiful illustrations. This is the kind of book you can stare at one page for several minutes trying to find all the tiny details.
The Story Orchestra: The Nutcracker is the same series as The Story Orchestra: Four Seasons and features Tchaikovsky’s famous Nutcracker Ballet. When I was a tiny child my family would go see a matinee performance of the Nutcracker every December. I have fond memories of that Christmas tradition and can’t wait to take my baby when she’s older. I love that this book introduces kids to the music and the story of the Nutcracker. Going to see live music is so much more fun when you’re familiar with the songs and story line.
Okay, one more push button book! Allegro: A Magical Journey Through Musical Masterpieces is about a little boy who goes on a magical journey to experience 11 different classic masterpieces. The illustrations are another huge draw for this book. And while it is recommended for children ages 5-8, this is another book that your toddler will love. Even if they don’t quite follow the story line, the music and illustrations alone are enough to keep their attention.
Peter and the Wolf is a symphonic fairy tale for children. Did you read or listen to this as a kid? I vaguely remember the story, but hearing the music really brings back memories! This is a great way to teach children about musical instruments and the sounds they make. Each character in the story has an instrument; the bird is a flute, Peter is a string quartet, the grandpa is a bassoon, the wolf is French horns, etc.
My favorite edition of the book is Peter and the Wolf illustrated by Charles Mikolaycak. You can read it with or without the music. Most of the music editions include a narrator, so your child can look at the illustrations and “read along” with the narrator.
My favorite recording is by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, although I’ve only ever found it on CD. I’m sure there’s an online version out there. If you have Amazon music, this version is free and features Boris Karloff as the narrator. His voice recording is so good it gives me chills!
Wheels on the Bus. This book features a charming French village and the townsfolk going about their day riding the town bus. The story is the lyrics to the song Wheels on the Bus. As an adult you might find this boring, but kids love it! Most little ones are familiar with this song, and having illustrations to go along really helps bring the story to life. Sometimes Ava and I will read the story and point out all the little details, and sometimes we sing together while turning the pages.
This book is based on the Raffi version of the song. Fun fact, Raffi was my first ever concert at age four. How cool am I?! Raffi is the master of kids songs if you want to check out his music. I love that his songs are guitar based. I feel like a bunch of kids songs you find on YouTube are electronic and high pitched and synthetic sounding. Raffi’s songs are warm and cozy and great for kids to sing along with. Here’s is his ‘Best of Raffi’ CD. I usually just ask Alexa to play some Raffi.
Drum Dream Girl is written by Newberry Honor winner Margarita Engle. It’s about a young girl who lives on the island of music where only boys should play drums. But the little girl dreams of playing the drums herself. The words are very lyrical: “She longed to play tall congas and small bongos and silvery, moon-bright timbales.” The words and pictures in this book are beautiful and the story is inspiring and appealing to little ones.
This is a book blog, but I have to include a couple of musical extras that I loved for Ava! As an infant, one of her favorite toys was the Baby Einstein music player. It plays snippets of classic Mozart songs and lights up with different colors in time to the music. This is a toy we always packed in diaper bags because I knew it would distract her for a bit! Another baby favorite is the Melissa and Doug Band in a Box music set. It comes with a tambourine, chimes, maracas, and more, and is perfect for little ones to participate in a song.
This post has gone on much longer than I meant, but there are just so many great musical books out there! While I mostly focused on classical music, there are some great non-classical books as well. Check out ‘The Story of…’ series of board books for starters!
For the younger toddlers and babies, the Music Is…Board Book is a great introduction to what music is all about.
To instill a love of music, try playing it in the background, in the car, wherever. Just exposing your child to the sounds is a great start to broadening their horizons.
For more books for toddlers try reading Five Types of Books Every Toddler Should Own, and Books About Sadness for Toddlers. Thanks for reading!
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