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English Titles
This band is hot! Sizzling hot! The tiny town of Abaleda has a firehouse band with Lila leading the way on her big brass drum. Sparks fly when the Abaleda Voluntary Firehouse Band pick up their musical instruments. Lila and the band are still learning the knack of putting out fires, but they sure know how to make musical sparks. This brightly illustrated book introduces tiny readers to concepts such as individualism and team effort. Lila and the band members each love playing a different instrument and when it comes to putting out fires, they become an eager team bonded with a unique goal. The book also introduces readers to clever rhymes, different instruments and the sounds they make.
Amazing Grace is the story of John Newton, the man who wrote the words for the famous hymn "Amazing Grace". Newton lived from 1725 to 1827. He was a sea captain, then later in life a preacher in Liverpool, England. During his years as a sea captain, Newton was involved in the slave trade, regularly transporting slaves to Antigua to be sold. Delving into Newton's life, the author describes the environment of the time, and the conditions of the people who were enslaved on the ships. The very detailed illustrations are paintings by Janet Wilson. They aid the reader in imagining what it would have been like to have lived in those times. Newton later denounced slavery and, as a powerful speaker, was able to have some influence on social reform. An interesting book from the point of view of historical perspectives.
The time is 1822. The place is Vienna. It is a time of great upheaval in a young boy's life. Christoph's father has recently died. His mother, in need of money, has rented out the upstairs of their house to Ludwig van Beethoven. Mr. Beethoven is an eccentric deaf composer capable of ranting and raving, creating bumps and crashes with his piano, and making life miserable for Christoph. In desperation, Christoph writes to his uncle pleading with him to tell his mother to send Mr. Beethoven away. The story of Mr. Beethoven's life unfolds, through letters exchanged between Christoph and his uncle. Christoph slowly begins to understand his house guest and comes to the eventual realization that he is a great composer who has had a very difficult time. The author skillfully weaves a fictional account, based on the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, into a sometimes humorous story, capturing the great composer's mannerisms and eccentricities. Scott Cameron's illustrations are full of detail, paintings in themselves, and enhance the text very well.
Maybe he was hoping to form his own musical group, the Bear-Naked Ladies. Maybe he was a claws-et Benny Goodbear fan, or maybe, just maybe, he was hoping to recreate some of the un-fur-gettable tunes of Guy Lombeardo. Harry was stumped. He couldn't figure out why the bear kept showing up. Harry's better days as a boogie-woogie musician were past. In their senior years, he and his wife Ernestine had bought a farm and Harry played piano at home at night. When Harry played, he always had a captive audience: a bear. Finally, Harry figured it out. Yep, this bear loved boogie-woogie music and he was pretty partial to Ernestine's blackberry pies, too. Big, vivid pictures and a warm friendly narrative will make this book as enticing to young readers as Harry's music and Ernestine's pies are to the Boogie-Woogie Bear.
Toñino was a merry boy who lived with his grandmother, high on a hill in the mountains. He had a crooked back. Every day he would go down into the village, accompanied by his goats and guitar. In the village he would milk his goats and sing. He had a wonderful lilting voice. At the end of the day he would trudge home. The cold wind would bite at his crooked back, but he never complained. He was strong in character. On the night of the moon festival, it was very late when he started for home. He sat down to rest, and fell asleep. He awoke to the strains of music. Then hundreds of fairies came, dancing and singing. But, they sang only part of the song. Toñino came from his hiding place with his guitar, and offered to sing the entire song. Together they sang in a happy chorus. The fairies wanted Tõnino to make a wish. He enjoyed their chorus so much that he wanted no reward. Finally, he told them of his crooked back, and in a swirl of cloud, fairy song and tiny hands, the crooked back disappeared. The pictures in the book have a Spanish look. There are illusions of details created by pale colours and shading, rendering a fairy-like quality very suitable to the story. The serious theme is lightened by the music, merriment and happy ending.
Drive is what 18-year-old Jens Friesen possesses. High-school football star and top fundraiser, his successes have been hard-fought. This is one of the reasons Jens harbors animosity towards his younger brother Daniel, an exceptionally talented blues guitarist who seems to waste his potential. Always the responsible son, when Jens's father takes ill, he quits school and gets a job in the city selling cars to help support his family. Soon, he finds himself fired, broke, and on the verge of being evicted. Things couldn't possibly get worse until Daniel shows up at his door with a drinking problem, a 22-year-old girlfriend, and a $5000.00 debt to a sleazy music producer. Not wanting to burden his parents with his own failure and Daniel's financial trouble, Jens sets out, with his brother in tow, on a desperate weekend mission to raise the $5000.00. He can do it. He must succeed — for his parents, for Daniel, and ... for himself. For once, the brothers are forced to work together and pool their talents. With Daniel's music and Jens's personality, their only hope is to sell enough of Daniel's demo tapes in small-town bars and nightclubs to pay the debt. Wieler explores the relationship of two brothers with very different personalities who confront anger, jealousy, self-esteem, sexual relationships and each other.
Music can have the power to profoundly touch people, and can even change lives. In 1992, in war-torn Sarajevo, a cellist named Vedran Smailovic played for 22 days to honour 22 victims of a horrific bomb blast in his neighbourhood. Elizabeth Wellburn tells a story of a young boy named Alen, who loved playing his violin. We are shown a glimpse of the beauty of pre-war Sarajevo. Then war hits, the country is wracked with destruction, and fear overtakes everyone. But the people must go on, living with the drudgery and shortages that war brings: little water, firewood or food. One day, Alen encounters a man in the town square, playing his cello, spreading the joy of music, refusing to submit to the fear and devastation. Day after day the cellist returns, entertaining the neighbourhood, taking their thoughts away from the war, if only for a few minutes. This story of Vedran Smailovic, and Alen and his family, is a haunting portrayal of war, and the restorative power of music. With dramatic, vivid paintings by Deryk Houston, this powerful work will appeal to older children and young adults alike.
Born into a musical family, little Frederic is named after musical virtuoso Frederic Chopin. His doting mother, Mrs. Pipkin, thinks he is beautiful and, more importantly, musical. But no matter what instrument he tries, he seems to come up flat, until the moment he attends a concert and falls under the spell of the conductor. The wooden spoon which he has carried with him since infancy becomes his baton and... a star is born. Music pours out of every illustration, discordantly at first, melodically in the final pages, as Frederic finds his niche and conducts the Pipkin Family Orchestra in his wonderfully fabulous song.
This biography for young people gives insight into Glenn Gould as a musical genius, as a sensitive person who loved animals, and as a child who suffered because he was "different". From his first piano lesson before the age of three, music was his life's passion. Even as a young boy, he protected his hands, and did not play ball or marbles. He was extremely talented in playing the piano and pipe organ. From the young age of 11, when he won top marks in the Piano Trophy competition at the Kiwanis Music Festival in Toronto, to his American debut at age 22 in Washington, Gould astounded his listeners. He became an international concert pianist until his retirement from the stage in 1964. Gould was renowned for his recordings of J.S. Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven, and other composers as well. He devoted the last two decades of his life to recording; he also expanded his musical horizons as a writer, actor, producer, conductor and composer. Numerous black-and-white photographs from all aspects of his life give visual details to the complex person called Gould. A glossary of musical terms and an index assist in the reading of this book. References and music, recommended for children, invite further study for interested young people or educators.
This novel tells the story of Mick, a young drummer from a disbanded heavy-metal band. He and his pals spend their time picking on and beating up the weak. He's bored and he hates anyone different, well almost anyone. Dariana, the girl of his dreams, is definitely different from him. She believes in people and in individualism. Dariana doesn't want anything to do with Mick, but she knows he's a good drummer. Dariana and her friend Alex form two-thirds of a band. Mick would complement things nicely, if he can learn to get along. Mick, Dariana and Alex put together Good Idea Gone Bad, a band that first shakes up their high school and then the Halifax music scene. Good Idea Gone Bad is an in-your-face novel, its prose succinct and fast-paced. The author, Lesley Choyce, resists the obvious: bad boy meets good girl, good girl teaches, bad boy now understands. Instead, Choyce deftly presents a gripping story about peer pressure, bigotry and individual perspectives. | |||||||||||||||||||
