Tiny: the Invisible world of microbes

Nicola Davies, illustrated by Emily Sutton
Walker Books
ISBN: 9781406341041          RRP: $27.95

Every home should have a modest microscope with its own light source. There’s a whole new world of discovery down there for young naturalists – a drop of pond water, a drop of blood, human hair, the wings of a fly, onion skin dipped in food colouring, a strand of pond weed; the possibilities are endless and fascinating. This book describes part of this world – microbes, the tiniest of the tiny living things in and on and around our world. Their multiple roles are revealed in a straightforward text accessible to most 6 year-olds. The watercolour illustrations are clearly drawn in a retro-cartoon style, with appealing bright colours that are true to the subject.

Emu

Claire Saxby, illustrated by Graham Byrne
Walker Books Australia
ISBN: 9781922179708          RRP: $27.95

This most recent Australian addition to the captivating Nature Storybooks series is another that discusses how the male hatches and rears the chicks, a popular topic of late (see Karana in older posts). As is characteristic of this series the combination of parallel texts provides entertainment and information, as they tell of emu behaviour in this early phase of their lives. The illustrations are outstanding, done by computer but having a multi-media effect of watercolours, acrylics, inks and prints. They dramatically portray the harshness of the environment and the difficulty of raising several chicks under hazardous conditions.

Can you hear it?

William Lach; Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
Abrams Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780810957213          [various prices online]

One of the best music appreciation books for the whole family that I have seen in some time. There are three sections. The first describes instruments of the orchestra by sections, using unique historical examples from the museum’s collection. In the second part a number of well-known musical pieces have been matched with works of art held by the Metropolitan Museum. Questions guide the reader into the musical imagery of the works. The artworks provide inspiration to hear what is pictured in the music. The final section of the book describes the artwork in more detail, giving reasons that it was chosen to match the various musical works. A CD is included with all of the pieces played by various international orchestras. Six stars out of five for this marvellous book.

Books reviewed 24.07.14

Last week’s research touched on Benjamin Britten’s work The young person’s guide to the orchestra. If you are looking for classical music in book and CD sets for children, here are a few suggestions.

Carnival of the animals by Camille Saint-Saens

There are several versions, some with the original Ogden Nash verses, others with an adapted commentary.

Michael Leunig wrote poems about Australian animals included Australiana sketches; the commentary is by Peter Garrett and the music played by the Australian Chamber Orchestra.










Jack Prelutsky poems (America's first Children's Poet Laureate); he also recites these on the CD. The rollicking illustrations are by Mary Grandpre who also did the Harry Potter covers for Scholastic US. Music played by the Wuerttemberg Chamber Orchestra conducted by Joerg Faerber.

Illustrated by Sue Williams, narrated by Barry Carson Turner, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conductor uncertain. The text not only tells the story of each movement but explains how the music tells those stories; this delightful version would be accessible to confident beginner reader.

Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev (mostly books or CDs).

It’s surprising how many luminaries have narrated this piece over time.

This book and CD set retold by Janet Schulman and gloriously illustrated in Tsarist Russian style by Peter Malone. Music is by the Cincinnati Pops orchestra with Erich Kunzel.