Anna Harwell Celenza

Very creepy and not creepy enough at the same time, which may mean this book has struck a balance between the factual story of composer Camille Saint-Saëns and the fantastically ghoulish story his music tells. If you were going to visit the Paris catacombs, I'd definitely recommend giving this a read and a listen (the books comes with a CD recording of the Danse Macabre).

One part that struck me as interesting was the use of metaphor when describing the first performance of the piece. The show more text and the pictures both make it seems like something magical happened during the performance. "One by one the skeletons rose from their graves. Bone against bone, they rattled and danced." The illustrations only show the orchestra as a background image. In the foreground, we see a skeleton holding a fiddle. This part of the book describes the story the music tells, but an inexperienced reader could think the book just veered into fiction. I think this creates a good teachable moment about the use of metaphor in non-fiction. Common Core, baby! show less

I love Celenza's music appreciation series. This one is especially moving... in part, perhaps, because the piece is so old that much of the history is lost and Celenza was able to improvise a bit more than usual. Still, she told us what she knows from history, and the story and notes are all so enlightening. I recommend these to all libraries that serve children.

Wow, I feel really silly for including a picture book on Goodreads, but it was such a unusual find that I thought I'd review it anyway. It's about Bach, my favorite composer of all time, and how he came to write the Goldberg Variations, a particularly nuanced and complex composition, even for Bach. The author is a little loose with some of the history, but the story is intriguing, and this seems like a nice (and very accessible) way to introduce classical music to your children. The CD with show more the recording of the music is a plus. I'd recommend this for kids, parents, and fellow Bach-lovers. show less

Johann Gottlieb Goldberg is a talented musician but is stunted by the fact that he is an orphan. When Johann Sebastian Bach encourages Count Keyserlingk to take him in, Goldberg gets an opportunity to work on his music. After the Count stumbles upon him playing one night, he challenges him each week until finally he asks for a piece that has everything. Not knowing what that entails, Goldberg goes to Bach for help and Bach's Goldberg Variations are born. I thought this book was interesting show more and provided insight to a lesser known story. The illustrations are reminiscent of Tomie Depaola's work which makes it a whimsical read. show less