Christmas Countdown: Day 7 - Music


Music

Is there a young somebody under your roof with a passion for reality? Then I recommend you scoop up this little non-fiction wonder, Music. Released by What on Earth Publishing, this resplendent encyclopedia of music is just one of the many non-fiction titles this company specialises in all designed to engage (a child’s) natural curiosity and passion for learning. And they are simply astounding.

Music is a fold-out graphic history of music which means it can be read from cover to cover as a normal book, but each page is actually a concertina fold which when unfolded spreads out into an engrossing timeline 2.5 metres long!

This musical odyssey begins with an overview of the world allowing readers to gain a sense of time and place that is all encompassing. Time is measured in the religiously neutral but same timeframe as BC, BCE and CE (AD) and begins with ancient music from prehistoric times. It’s a fascinating journey and one I am certain adults will want to experience as enthusiastically as children. Each snippet of history reveals an historical fact that explains and enlightens.


The earliest composer, oldest surviving piece of music, music in art and evolution of instruments is presented in numbered sequenced text boxes that gradually lengthen in detail the further in you travel. The diversity of information is phenomenal, almost as infinite as the qualities of music itself. We learn how music influences, reflects attitudes and emotions, is used to protect and motivate and of course entertain. Through the ever evolving spirit of music and its composers and performers, the history of mankind unravels so that without even realising it, the reader is swept through a marvellous voyage of discovery.

The journey is as fast or relaxed as you wish it to be as each page holds just enough entries to maintain interest without overwhelming the reader; The Beatles scored one whole page to themselves. How the author managed to include so much material is miraculous but of course incomplete; where would one end! This naturally invites the curious mind to explore further which makes this book not just appealing to curl up with but also an invaluable resource attractive enough to take pride of place on any bookshelf thanks to Ruby Taylor’s eye-catching illustrations.

Eventually we make it to the present day, arriving at the Royal Albert Hall of Fame in London, one of the busiest musical venues in the world. An orchestra is belting out a tune only the reader can here and now feel in their heart as well having experienced this wondrous epic event, this story about music. 

The medium of music is one of the most powerful ways to relay stories and this book serves to remind us all of that in beautiful fortississimo tones! Bravo!

Title:  Music
Author:  Nicholas O’Neill and Susan Hayes
Illustrator:  Ruby Taylor
Publisher: What On Earth Books, $34.99
Publication Date:  November 2020
Format: Hardback – Fold Out
ISBN: 9781999967932
For ages:  8+
Type:  Non Fiction Picture Book

Buy the Book: What On Earth Books, Boomerang Books

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Goldfish Boy

Image
Twelve-year-old Matthew Corbin is your regular pre-teen boy living in an unspectacular cul-de-sac deep in British suburbia. The major difference between him and the other inhabitants of Chestnut Close however is the state of his red-raw hands and tortured mind and the fact that he barely steps outside his terraced-home second story bedroom. Matthew is afflicted with severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, OCD and can barely function as a result. From his fishbowl vantage point, Matthew keeps track of his neighbours, dutifully recording their every movement, their comings and goings, and their habitual rituals in his notebooks. In this way we are introduced to the residents and their characteristic irks and quirks from the get go in a way that is both intriguing and comical. Matthew’s observations allude to his condition; he is both analytical and detailed in his approach. The orderliness of his notations suggest a mind used to repetition and accuracy, an intense desire to ‘get things r
Read more

Review: My Shadow Is Pink

Image
What are little boys made of? Is it really frogs and snails ; everything that is not sugar and spice and all things nice that are otherwise attributed to the makeup of girls? Should blue be the only shade that maketh the man? Debut author illustrator, Scott Stuart blows these outdated tropes well and truly out of the water with this deliriously amusing and tender picture book, My Shadow is Pink . Our intrepid main character’s little face is a picture of consternation after he concedes that his shadow is not the strong blue that trails the other males in his family. His is a delicate shade of rose and mirrors that which he loves most: sparkles, dancing, twirling and dressing up. Despite his father’s reassurances that his shadow will adopt a more ‘manly’ appearance one of these days , and the little boy’s own yearning to fit in with the other acceptable shadow groups, he is unable to dismiss his conflicting feelings. Then one day an invitation to let his shadow dress up in its favour
Read more

Christmas Countdown Day 3 - The Grandest Bookshop in the World

Image
The Grandest Bookshop in the World It’s something I’ve always wanted to do – live in a bookshop and be surrounded by the magic of words and other spellbinding things, like cake. Siblings Pearl and Vally Cole are living that dream. But it’s not just any old bookshop; it’s the Cole’s Book Arcade in Melbourne. Their fantastical story germinates from their father’s own stirring rags to riches tale and meanders closely to the actual chronological time line of the eccentric Edward Cole, founder of Coles Book Arcade in the late 1800s. The key thing to remember be you staff, family member or patron of the Arcade is that buying a book is secondary to enjoying your visitation. Customers are encouraged to relax, read, dine on tantalising fare, wander through the exotic gardens harbouring monkeys, or perhaps select a curious toy for a well-behaved youngster. These fascinations really did exist and in the Cole children’s thrilling tale form the critical backdrops to their chilling (fictional) a
Read more