Ah, Music! [Paperback]

Aliki (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Music is rhythm.

Music is melody.

Music is feeling ...
and oh, so much more.

Ah, music! is about composers and instruments. It's about artists and performers. It's about history -- from the earliest music through classical, modern, jazz, and popular times. It's about diversity and pleasure.

Beloved author and illustrator Aliki shares her keen insight and understanding of music and all its themes and variations.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Energetic art gives this ode to music, which covers everything from very basic terms to a 'mini history' of jazz a lively visual pace," wrote PW. All ages. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-4-Like a carefully composed song, this ode to music slowly unfolds-note by note, line by line, stanza by stanza. The first several pages are devoted to the definition of music itself. With headings like "Music is Rhythm" or "Music is Volume," these terms are explained in an easy, child-friendly manner. For pitch, a boy playing a piccolo says, "A piccolo is so high, I hear it way at the top of my head." Then music as a written creation is introduced with a brief description of notes, likening them to handwriting. Next, "the creation comes to life" through the instruments and orchestra that play it, the voices that sing it, and even the dancers who perform it. With each of these elements, a few lines of explanation are followed by Aliki's signature figures that do so much in such a small space. The history of music is broken down into many stages, from prehistoric to classical to modern, and many composers are introduced with a small portrait captioned by a single sentence. Here, the author sometimes uses words like "motet" or "oratorio" without definition and only gives the briefest of glimpses into centuries and countries. However, the book is meant to be an introduction and Aliki's love of her subject shines through. This enjoyable title is best shared one-on-one and its format makes it ideal for browsing. It should lead young music lovers back to the shelves to find out more about a type of music or composer who has piqued their curiosity.
Jane Marino, Scarsdale Public Library, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (September 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064462366
• ISBN-13: 978-0064462365
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #199,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Arts & Music > Performing Arts > General
  • #14 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( A ) > Aliki
  • #20 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Arts & Music > Music > General

More About the Author

Aliki is the author and illustrator of more than fifty books for children that are treasured by readers all over the world. Her many well-loved titles include My Visit to the Zoo, My Visit to the Aquarium, My Visit to the Dinosaurs, Wild and Woolly Mammoths, Tabby, and Those Summers. Aliki lives near the Globe theater, in London, England.

In Her Own Words..."Aliki grew up in Philadelphia in a big Greek family where everyone was busy creating and sharing their activities. She knew from the time she was in kindergarten that she wanted to bean artist, although music was also a natural talent. She was encouraged throughout her early life by her parents and by teachers she will never forget."She graduated from the Philadelphia Collegeof Art and started a career in advertising art. After she married Franz Brandenberg, Aliki continued her career in his country, Switzerland, where they lived for three years. It was there that she wrote and illustrated her first book, The Story of William Tell, which was published in England. When they moved to New York, Aliki wrote and illustrated My Five Senses--the book that changed the direction of her career and her life.

Although she had never thought of being a writer, Aliki has been making books ever since. Children's books, she says, are a combination of two things I love: words and pictures. I also love the privacy of books--both reading them and making them. Aliki writes fiction, in which she can express her feelings, and nonfiction research books about subjects she's interested in and wants to know more about. Each book is a new challenge; each is different, she says. The subject directs the way I illustrate a book, the same way friends bring out different parts of us. The challenge is to get the words right and then to make pictures that expand and enhance their meaning.""Besides her own books, Aliki has illustrated many written by Franz Brandenberg and other authors. Her two children are also in the arts. Jason is a filmmaker and Alexa is a children's book author-illustrator. They appear in almost all of her books as cats, mice, or themselves.

Aliki loves music, theater, cinema, museums, children, her cat, Nefertiti, and working in her garden in London, where she lives. She travels frequently to the U.S., Greece, Switzerland, and other parts of the world, though most of the time she is alone in her studio with the books she is working on--and Mozart."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing Music Mini-encyclopedia, April 12, 2004

By 

E. S. Will "a new leaf" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ah, Music! (Hardcover)

Aliki provides a broad synopsis of music-its place in history, cultures and the human heart-in this inspirational, informative volume. Each page consists of a collage of images united by a concise narrative.
What is especially refreshing about this mini-encyclopedia of music is that Aliki "bookends" the mechanics and "hardware"- types of instruments, who's who of Western composers, time lines of jazz and pop music - with "software," placing music's emotional and social value into perspective for the child. She shows how music is the background of everyday life, for example, with this definition, "Rhythm is a marching-band beat, a puffing-train beat, a beating-the eggs beat, a heart beat."
The book closes with a panoply of pictures demonstrating how music comforts and inspires, by helping people to relax, calm anger, cheer low spirits, and create or perform work.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Teaching aid., February 22, 2006

By 

Soprano01 (West Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ah, Music! (Hardcover)

I bought this book specifically because it was an easy read for children. I was teaching a unit on jazz to a group of fourth grade students and found the brief history of jazz extremely useful. It broke the history down by decade, and mentioned an important fact or two about the decade. Charactures of musicians and names are mentioned too to help students identify musicians in the time periods and styles. The book overall is a great book to assist in introducing children to music, but I used it specifically for this lesson.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In small doses ..., May 2, 2005

By 

MovedbyMusic - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ah, Music! (Hardcover)

This book is not a story - it's an atlas of information. Kids can use this as a reference book but there are so many other choices out there for bringing music the color and joy it deserves in a more sincere and descriptive way.