music – Jenny Arch

pokko Those of us who do storytimes for little kids know that we shouldn’t expect them to sit quietly, hands folded in laps, listening ears on – not at all! The best storytimes I’ve attended or led incorporate movement, singing, and plenty of wiggling. (Directed movement is better than chaotic movement: one of the best tips I got when I was new to leading storytimes was that if things got rowdy, to sing “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star” – with motions – because it’s soothing and works as a good reset. You can also sing any short rhyme three times: first regular, then loud, and finally very softly.)

Here are some picture books about music and dance that work for storytime or sharing one-on-one. Most are just right for the preschool set, with some fine for toddlers (Punk Farm, Pokko and the Drum) and others (The Piano Recital, Jingle Dancer) best for early elementary. They range from silly to poetic but all show an appreciation for music and the various ways of making it.

88 Instruments by Chris Barton, illus. Louis Thomas 88instruments

Because by Mo Willems, illus. Amber Ren

We Will Rock Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins (sequel to the deservedly popular We Don’t Eat Our Classmates)

Pokko and the Drum by Matthew Forsythe

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin! by Lloyd Moss, illus. Marjorie Priceman

The Orchestra Pit by Joanna Wright

Punk Farm by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (gives “Old MacDonald” a fresh treatment) punkfarm

What A Wonderful World illustrated by Tim Hopgood (a picture book version of Bob Thiele and George Weiss’s song, popularized by Louis Armstrong; best for those confident in their singing voices, though of course you can read it without singing)

The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield

Music for Mister Moon by Philip and Erin Stead

The Piano Recital by Akiko Miyakoshi (translated from Japanese)

How Do You Dance? by Thyra Heder

Let’s Dance! By Valerie Bolling, illus. Maine Diaz letsdance

Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith, illus. Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu (this one has more text and would likely sail over toddlers’ heads and test preschoolers’ patience, but it would be a great read-aloud for early elementary)

This isn’t an exhaustive list and I’m sure I’ve missed some great ones. What are your favorite picture books having to do with music or dance?

Linda writes, “Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is Ten Songs That I Wish Were Books, and it may be my favorite topic so far. Now these aren’t necessarily my favorite songs….They’re just songs that I think have a good story behind them that could be developed even more.”

As someone who spent a significant percentage of her teenage years squinting at liner notes and mining song lyrics for meaning, I agree that this is a great topic, and it’s a struggle to keep it to ten (you’ll see below that I kind of cheated to include more), but these were some of the first to come to mind. Unlike Linda, I didn’t pair an author with every song (though hats off to her for some awesome, and telling, choices). These songs already have a story-like quality to them, and I’d love to see three minutes expanded to 300 pages.

“Brick” by Ben Folds Five and “Freshmen” by The Verve Pipe: these two songs are linked in my mind, possibly because they were on the radio a lot around the same time, but they also both have to do with abortion.
“Lately” by Helio Sequence: “Lately” is essentially an updated version of “Most of the Time” by Bob Dylan, which is already part of the High Fidelity movie soundtrack, so I suppose this book already exists and what I want is for Nick Hornby to write another book about music.
“Crush” by Jimmy Eat World: I would like Sara Zarr, Jandy Nelson, Robin Benway, and Gayle Forman collaborate on this one, please and thank you.
“The Way” by Fastball: for some reason this song has always put me in mind of two books: Bless the Beasts and Children by Glendon Swarthout and Smack by Melvin Burgess. But I’d read a third.
“Bank Job” by Barenaked Ladies is the only heist song I know of; I’d like for Dave Barry (Big Trouble, etc.) to write it. Practically every other BNL song would also make a good book; I’m thinking “The Old Apartment,” “The Flag,” “Wrap Your Arms Around Me,” and “Fun & Games” to start.
“Play Crack the Sky” by Brand New: this haunting, tragic song has Audrey Niffenegger’s name on it.
Like BNL, nearly every song by The Weakerthans would make a good novel; I’ll go with “Reconstruction Site,” with “Civil Twilight” a close second.
“Nightswimming” by REM: maybe this is more like one scene in a book than a whole book itself. Let’s give it to Lauren Myracle (The Infinite Moment of Us).
“Cath…” by Death Cab for Cutie: According to Wikipedia, this song is based on Wuthering Heights, so.
“February” by Dar Williams or “As Is” by Ani DiFranco: these top-notch singer/songwriters are probably capable of writing their own books.