In Welcome to the Symphony from Workman Publishing, the writer, Carolyn Sloan, introduces the concept of an orchestra playing a symphony with the help of James Williamson's appealing illustrations. The book features three mice who are in the audience, one of whom asks all the really basic questions so that the ideas behind music and its composition can be explained – like pitch, tempo and a note – to the reader. And what is a symphony..?
The narrative includes a little bit of history about Beethoven and descriptions of instruments and groups of instruments. Even better, as far as Harriet is concerned, is the sidebar on the book which houses a panel of 19 sounds so that you can, for instance, hear the difference between the sound of a double bass and that of a cello. The side panel begins with the orchestra tuning up and finishes with the end of the first movement.
Harriet was actually familiar with Beethoven's Symphony No 5 and wanted to listen to (and see) the the whole of it so we found an orchestra playing it on Youtube.
The style and level seem just about right but you would need to check how familiar an eight year old is with music as it may be a little too simple for her.
Welcome to the Symphony would make a great present.
PWT rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Published by Workman, Welcome to the Symphony