Carnegie Hall

Your Name Is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow celebrates the inherent musicality of names from different cultures and empowers readers to reconsider the beauty, history, and significance of their own. The book is complementary to “The Name Game” activity in the Explore Steady Beat lesson plan.

Max Found Two Sticks by Brian Pinkney revels in the joys of making music and in the fact that musical ideas—sounds and rhythms—can be expressed with anything and found just about anywhere.

The History of Rock: For Big Fans and Little Punks serves as an expansive introduction to rock music from pioneering bands of the 1950s to 21st century rockers. In addition to legendary rock musicians, the book describes related artistic genres such as the blues, jazz, soul, and hip hop.

Margarita Engle’s poetic picture book tells the story of a young, mixed-race girl who dreams of playing music. Set in Cuba’s 1930s music scene, Drum Dream Girl focuses on a love of rhythm while also engaging issues of sexism, music’s cultural significance, and the importance of family and teachers in learning.

Mo Willems’ moving picture book traces a young girl’s journey to the center stage. “Because” of interconnected moments of chance, sacrifice, persistence, and magic, the protagonist discovers a lifelong love of music and grows up to conduct her own symphonies.

In this engaging introduction to the symphony orchestra, Avolon Nuovo explores the orchestra’s history, instrument families, and the life and work of luminary composers such as Duke Ellington and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Susan Hood tells the extraordinary true tale of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay, a youth orchestra whose instruments are fashioned from recycled trash. Available in English and Spanish, Ada’s Violin reveals the profound ways in which music can change the way we see ourselves and our communities.

There’s dreadful news from the symphony hall—the composer is dead! Inspired by Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, Lemony Snicket’s irreverent murder mystery invites students to join the Inspector as he interrogates the instruments of the orchestra.

Music Is... explores ten different genres of music—classical, Latin, jazz, country, heavy metal, hip-hop, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, electronica, pop, and a surprise finale. Students will delight in this imaginative journey of sounds, styles, and rhythms as they unfold through a unique accordion book form.

Susan Roth tells the lesser-known story of Guido D’Arezzo, an Italian monk who devised the first system of musical notation in the early 11th century. Readers follow D’Arezzo from his boyhood in the choir to his eventual achievement, and learn how his invention led to the beginnings of musical systems we use today.

Can You Hear It? pairs masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art with orchestral works from a broad range of composers, including Gershwin and Vivaldi. Lach describes connections between musical compositions and artworks, and invites young readers to identify instruments and orchestral themes while listening to an accompanying CD.

When Little Eddie visits Carnegie Hall with his music teacher, the world of music comes alive. Based on the childhood piano lessons of classical pianist Edward Callahan Jr., Little Eddie Goes to Carnegie Hall highlights prominent African American musicians who have performed at Carnegie Hall, such as Duke Ellington and Florence Price, and invites readers to find their own musical voice.