Posted on: 30/05/2020
In last month’s review we spoke of the need to connect to nature. One could say we’ve spent more time ‘tuning in’ to the outside world and another one of the silver linings of the past ten weeks has been the opportunity to listen whilst working at home to music or the radio. Apparently we are not alone, with 25% of people now listening to the radio for 4 or more hours a day, and whole album downloads reportedly up as well. There’s also been a change in what people are listening to. Classical music channels have attracted new audiences as have radio stations with fewer adverts and less repetition who are keeping people switched on for longer. And it’s not just the radio we’re turning to. A popular streaming service reported a 270% rise in the number of subscribers to its most popular classical music playlist, with 43% of those new listeners being under 25. BBC research also shows that young people are increasingly seeking out classical music online to relax, focus and energise. Orchestral music is around us more than it was 10 or 20 years ago in sound tracks to programmes, film scores and within many pop and rock songs there is often a string section. This gives us a real opportunity for us for young people to learn more about the art form of the orchestra, and we adored the How to Build an Orchestra book written by Mary Auld in association with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Appreciating music is a worthwhile distraction for children as well as adults and the benefits of listening to music are far reaching. Music can improve our mood. Studies show that listening to music can benefit overall well-being, help regulate emotions, and create happiness and relaxation in everyday life. Music can also be a source of comfort; we return to pieces that soothe us and lift us and certain artists have a quality that can help us with their lyrics as well as their melodies, such as Joni Mitchell who is featured in her very own story below.
And we need to not forget how much fun music can be! The Diddle that Dummed is a proper laugh out loud extravaganza of a book from one of our favourite authors who doesn’t fail to make us laugh. Music and laughter might just be the two things we need in our lives right now.
We adore a biography but many can feel a bit too weighty to share with children. This perfectly pitched (sorry - couldn’t resist) account of Joni Mitchell’s life shares with us her life on the Canadian prairie where part of her childhood was to paint, listen to birdsong, dance and compose on the piano. Inspiration for the dream lockdown life!
For many of us growing up with Joni Mitchell this little insight into her earlier life and the inspiration for her unique sound feels as precious as listening to a new song and Selena Alko has the ability to make the whole book feel like a song or a piece of artwork somehow.
This is one of those books you’d want in every book corner, or on a shelf for ‘special books’. Written for the thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Every Child a Song is beautifully informative - something Nicola Davies does incredibly well.
‘When you were born, a song began... ‘is the opening line of this unusual book which uses the metaphor of song to explore children's rights. It is lyrical in its style too, taking the reader on a journey with an opportunity to explore what a song needs in order to thrive. Issues of care are tackled sensitively and this would make a wonderful book to share with a group for a PSHE lesson on rights with a bridge into pieces of music that help us connect and celebrate.
This is a beautifully illustrated narrative non-fiction book that is filled to the brim with facts (and figures!) about the world of orchestras and how they work. This is exactly the book you need to help bring classical music to life for a child or a group of children. Cleverly constructed as a story centred about a conductor who is auditioning instruments for his orchestra, the book has an accompanying CD or tracks you can download to bring each part of the story to life during your read. These are pieces that are known classics, such as Prokofiev’s ‘Dance of the Knights’ for Romeo and Juliet, so there’s a real chance to gem up on some of these as well.
As well as the story, there are pictograms of a full-size symphony orchestra as well as a foreword by Sir Simon Rattle, Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra which helps us to remember these are real people with a very real job – to come together to tell stories with their music.
From the wordsmith, Kes Gray, comes yet another book that you know your class would ask for again and again. His ‘Oi’ series is a masterpiece of simple silliness with the most likeable characters and all the same rules apply to this book. Flinty Bo Diddle is writing a tune for his fiddle but one of the notes refuses to behave and this causes no end of frustration for the poor composer.
Not only does this book serve as a great opportunity to introduce some musical vocabulary (crochets and quavers) but this story has a poignant message about compromise as well as being brave to be different.
Posted in: Literature Review
