The Official Description: This book pairs five centuries of music history with stunning illustrations of fascinating little creatures—insects, arachnids, and amphibians; wasps, butterflies, frogs, and snakes. A glossary of musical terms and a short biography of each composer are included along with a CD (plus a unique code for the digital download) of recordings performed by the likes of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Liverpool Philharmonic, and the Nashville Symphony.
Just the facts: Introduction to classical music, definitions, illustrations, cd with 20 classical tracks
If there’s a young person in your life who is beginning to discover music this book would make a remarkable addition to your library. – Kinzie Things
My thoughts bit: I am grateful to Edelweiss and The Secret Mountain for the opportunity to receive an ARC of this book. The production of this title is fantastic and I think that it would be a great addition to any Library. In particular, young people with an interest in or curiosity about music will be engaged by this title.
The book is presented with a CD that has twenty classical music tracks. Each track on the CD has a companion two-page, illustrated spread in the book. Each track is explained as it relates to the “creatures” that are in it. There’s a brief introduction to what makes a creature unique and then an explanation of how it is represented in the music.
The illustrations are varied, detailed, and quite beautiful. Some of them are representations of more traditional images, others are whimsical and would provide fodder for a great conversation! Mauricio Gómez Morin has created some stunning images to go with the tracks provided. Each image is detailed enough that it can provide a secondary focus whilst listening to the track.
In addition to the track pages, there is a Listening Guide that provides some hints as to how the creatures are portrayed in the music, how instruments represent certain movements, etc. There is a section with brief biographies of the composers of each track and quite an extensive glossary of musical terms. In the final pages of the book, there is a graphical timeline of the composers and which periods they were working in.
There’s great attention to detail within this book. It’s sturdy and the cover/pages are beautiful. Even the pocket for the cd and the disc are colorful. This is a lovely book that would be a wonderful gift or just a purchase for you and a young person to enjoy!
Links: Goodreads // // The Publisher
I received an ARC of Little Creatures: An Introduction to Classical Music by Ana Gerhard and Mauricio Gómez Morin from The Secret Mountain via Edelweiss in exchange for an unbiased review.
Kinzie Things 