Chopin, Fryderyk / #PPBF

Hi Friends!

 

I’m sitting in the library Wednesday writing this perfect picture book Friday post with my neighbor friend who is working on a novel. We started meeting long ago to work on our projects; my memoir and her novel but today I am cheating. Since I was out-of-town visiting my grandson last Saturday when I usually schedule my blog posts I didn’t write one for today so… I’m catching up. I hope you like it.

 

Title: Chopin, Fryderyk

Author/ Illustrator : Catherine Weill/ Charlotte Voake

CD narrated by : Michael Cantwell

Publishing info: ABRSM publishing 1999/ English translation 2001 by Moonlight Press Ltd / the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music

Summary of back blurb: Did you know that Fryderyk Chopin was Polish and that by the age of five  he was already composing his own tunes? Did you know that he learnt Latin, Greek and French, then German, English and Italian at the same time he was learning to  play the piano? Can you tell stories through your  piano playing or singing? Have you ever danced a Polish mazurka? Read about Chopin and listen to his music – you, too, could be a great musician!

Resources : Ask your child to sing a story. Or try “taking a song you know really well and changing it by expressing through it something you feel strongly: Slow it down: Sing it louder and louder; put a stress on certain consonants…see if your friends can guess what feelings you are trying to express,”

Themes: Biography, nonfiction, musician, Chopin, Composer

Why I Love it : Though the cover was not as tantalizing as some of the other picture book biographies I had my eye on this week, this became my favorite, due to the descriptive spare language of the text and the little information bubbles that made it pertinent for our young readers today.

I knew Chopin was a famous piano player but that was about all I knew..I did not know he was a child prodigy, who was asked to play for the russian Tsar’s brother, the Grand Duke at age eight!

Each page has an illustration of what must have been like for Chopin and describes the text. then along the side are two photographs portraying it further. Also along the page number is the CD music that goes with the  page. This book is a feast for the eyes and for the ears!

So if you want to join other PPBF writers go look at Susanna Hill’s site for today and enjoy other reviews on her links. also you can click on Perfect Picture Books and find books categorized by theme or alphabetized. No matter which way you go it will be fun. For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

See you on Tuesday!  Have a Great Weekend Folks!

 

XOXO

 

You can buy Edmund here! on amazon!

And Annie here! on amazon!