Waiting to Sing

Waiting to Sing

Written by: Howard Kaplan

Illustrated by: Herve Blondon

Brief Summary: A story of a boy, his family, a piano, and how music comes to help when he needs it the most.

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This book is recommended for children between the ages of 5 and 9. I actually would extend this recommendation to 5+... I am 21 years old and I found this book to be enjoyable. The story is powerful and moving; the subject of death is present and music is used as an outlet for the family's sadness and anger. The illustrations are unique: they are large and run off the page; the pictures are colored with different tints of yellow, red, and brown. A student who enjoys music may find this book appealing. Overall I enjoyed reading this story. The idea of healthily expressing your emotions through music is a powerful message and an important message to learn. I would recommend this book to students as an individual read; the subject of death may be difficult for some children to handle/grasp and due to this I wouldn't want to read this book out-loud to an entire classroom.

Yellow Submarine

Yellow Submarine

Written/Sung by: The Beatles

Brief Summary: This book is an adaptation to the movie Yellow Submarine, and its pages are filled with artwork from the film. The book, Yellow Submarine, uses a collection of various Beatles musical lyrics to create a dream-like fictional story.

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I took Music and Methods (7e:120) in Fall of 2009 and this book instantly reminded me of that course. Within that methods course we had a unit where we discussed how integrated lessons could be created and used with the classroom. We were able to choose a subject and create a lesson that incorporated music within our chosen core area of study. I think this book would be an excellent way to integrate history, reading, and music all into one lesson or unit.

The illustrations within the book are beautifully done and instantly draw the reader's attention. I feel that students of all ages would find this book enjoyable to read. However, with that being said, I do believe that in order to enjoy this book to the extent it is capable of being understood, one must be knowledge of who The Beatles are as well as know the lyrics to a wide selection of their songs.

Throughout the book certain words are bolded in order to draw the reader's attention and signify their importance. Words such as: Pepperland, Sergeant Pepper's Band, and Old Lord Mayor. All of these bolded words serve as a 'map' that allow the reader to better understand the surreal story that is taking place within the pages of the book. Once again, a knowledge of what these bolded words signify is important for the reader to understand.