A series about teaching music could not pass without a mention of the many wonderful Living Books that can be utilized to learn about music.
What exactly is a "Living Book"?:
Living books are those books that inspire ideas - the unique thoughts originating from the thinker - not information which originates elsewhere. They inspire because they are written in a story format by an author who is passionate about the subject, making his interest contagious to the reader and sparking an emotional response. These books leave the reader wanting more of the subject, not less. They contain literary language, intended to help the reader's mind form a vivid mental picture. If there are illustrations, they are accurate and inspiring.
Rather than bombard you with a huge list of Living Books, I simply want to share my three favorite resources.... and one of them is FREE! I just about squealed out lout when I discovered this a few months ago.
Child's Own Book of Great Musicians Series
These wonderful books were published in the early 1900s and written by Thomas Tapper. They are beautifully written and give your child a sense of actually KNOWING the composer at the heart of the story. The text speaks DIRECTLY to the young reader and brings up moral questions as well. We have read several of these and LOVE them. You can print them and put them into a cute book, or you can just read them on your Kindle, iPad, or computer. There are even review questions at the end!
Opal Wheeler's Great Musicians Series:
I want to own ALL of these wonderful books. They present the lives of composers in delightful stories that have intrigued my children and inspired them to seek out that composer's music.
You can order the books with or without companion CDs, and I'm sure you can find them in your library. There is a wonderful review of them at Curriculum Choice if you want to know more.
The Carnival of the Animals: Poetry by Jack Prelutsky
This piece, written by Camille Saint-Saens, is perfect for introducing children to instruments of the orchestra. We have found a beautiful version with poetry by Jack Prelutsky. The book comes with the CD and is perfect as a read-aloud with music interspersed between the verse. The beautiful illustrations are done by Mary GrandPre, who illustrated all of the Harry Potter books!
I also have a chance for you to have your very own copy of this book! Tomorrow, I will be wrapping up the 10 Days of Teaching Music series with a collage of all the 10 Days Posts. If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know I host a Friday linky called Collage Friday.
Everyone who links a post with Collage Friday tomorrow will be entered to win a musical care package from me - which will include a copy of this book and CD! Please don't feel it's necessary to make a fancy collage (Photobucket has removed the Fotoflexer Collage option - DRAT!!) -- as long as you have a group of pictures from your week you are free to link with Collage Friday.
Day 4: Learning to Hear in a Noisy World - Exploring America's Musical Heritage DVD set giveawayDay 5: What About Piano Lessons?Day 6: Interest Led Music Study ~ Notebooking DownloadDay 7: Non Stress Musical Learning ~ Maestro Classics GiveawayDay 8: Let's Sing - Creating a Repertoire
The 10 Days Series is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutually beneficial projects. Visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. And of course, visit all the 10 Days posts from these homeschool moms of the iHomeschool Network. You'll be blessed with tips on how to handle bad days, cultivating curiosity, teaching with Legos, and much much more!
I'm also linking this post with Read-Aloud Thursday. I just love Amy's blog, Hope is the Word, and I know you will, too!!
Friday, August 31, 2012 at 5:00AM 
Today's Collage Friday has a math emphasis (among other things). Our math times have been much more enjoyable this year, and I wanted to take a chance to share that with you.
