Children love stories about enchanted lands full of magical beings. Nothing transports us to enchanted lands quite as powerfully as music does. Here’s a list of 10 recent children’s picture books that feature characters – some real, some invented – whose lives were forever changed by music’s power to bring us together, give us courage and inspire us to be our best selves.
The picture books below explore powerful stories of surmounting obstacles creatively through music. A composer writes a symphony for a school orchestra of broken instruments and helps galvanize an entire community to get the instruments fixed. A gifted young Jewish pianist finds a way to cultivate her talent amid the devastation of World War II. A single song becomes an anthem of freedom and hope for generations of African Americans.
The books also show how music has helped people from diverse backgrounds find their unique voices. A young frog marches to the beat of her own drum, and her community follows her. A brilliant pianist with different interpersonal abilities becomes one of the world’s great pianists and leaves a dazzling musical legacy like no other.
In these books there are great stories, but there’s an even greater message – wherever music is, there is love, creativity, community and the courage to be yourself. And that message is a remarkable gift to give young readers.
Symphony for a Broken Orchestra: How Philadelphia Collected Sounds to Save Music
Written by Amy Ignatow, illustrated by Gwen Millward
(Walker Books, 2022)
Inspired by an astonishing true story, Symphony for a Broken Orchestra chronicles a citywide project in Philadelphia to raise funds to repair more than 1,000 broken musical instruments owned by the School District of Philadelphia. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang composed a musical work for an orchestra of the broken instruments, sculpting his score to display unique soundscapes made by the instruments in their states of disrepair. More than 400 student, amateur and professional musicians from Philadelphia volunteered to perform the world premiere of Lang’s Symphony for a Broken Orchestra on Dec. 23, 2017. The instruments were then fixed and are again being played by students in the Philadelphia schools. Underlying the story of Ignatow and Millward’s book is the uplifting idea of the power of community coming together to find a creative solution to a pressing problem.
Watch the world premiere of David Lang’s Symphony for a Broken Orchestra:
And hear composer David Lang and Philadelphia musicians talk about their experiences working on Symphony for a Broken Orchestra:
Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln
written by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Rafael López
(Atheneum Books, 2019)
Dancing Hands tells the story of a watershed moment in the life of Venezuelan-born pianist and composer Teresa Carreño, one of the great musical prodigies of the late 1800s and early 1900s. As a very young child, Carreño how to play the piano from her father. In 1862 the Carreño family fled Venezuela’s Federal War, immigrating to the U.S. amid the tumult of the American Civil War. In an era when girls and women were not typically encouraged to pursue professional careers, Carreño concertized in Europe and throughout the U.S., collaborated with some of the most noted musicians of her day and composed music. In Dancing Hands readers journey with Carreño from her earliest years to her New York City debut at age 9, on a concert tour of the northeastern U.S. and to the White House for a command performance for President Abraham Lincoln and his family. Carreño would go on to sustain a prominent international career. Young readers should take inspiration from this story of an immigrant girl achieving great things.
Sing a Song: How “Life Every Voice and Sing” Inspired Generations
written by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Keith Mallett
(Nancy Paulsen Books, 2019)
Written in 1900 by brothers James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson, Lift Every Voice and Sing has united generations of African Americans as a stirring call for faith and resilience in the face of oppression. Sing a Song tells the story of the transmission of this classic American hymn through several generations of author Kelly Starling Lyons’ family. Over the course of the book, the song transcends Jim Crow-Era segregation, companions mourners in the aftermath of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., fortifies protesters in the Civil Rights Movement and accompanies President Barak Obama, 99-year-old Ruth Odom Bonner and their families as they ring the Freedom Bell at the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2016. And the song lives on today. “Young people can stand tall and draw strength from the song just like those in past generations,” Lyons writes in her Author’s Note. “That’s the message I want kids to hold in their hearts.”
Beautiful Noise: The Music of John Cage
written by Lisa Rogers, illustrated by Il Sung Na
(Anne Schwartz Books, 2023)
The 20th-century American composer John Cage (1912-1992) was one of those people who continually asked, “what if,” then strove in his art to find the answer. “What if?” is the refrain that runs through Beautiful Noise, spotlighting the towering avant-garde composer’s unconventional way of seeing – and hearing – the world. In his landmark collection of essays Silence, Cage wrote that there was no such thing as silence and that “silence is real sound.” Those ideas guided his work as s composer, leading him to redefine music in the modern world. In clear writing and vivid illustrations, Beautiful Noise introduces readers to Cage’s use of non-traditional musical notation in his scores, his music for prepared piano (piano with hardware and other gadgets inserted between its strings to alter the instrument’s typical sound palette) and his landmark work, 4’33”, in which 4 minutes and 33 seconds of “silence” is filled with the sounds of HVAC systems, passing cars and other ambient noise. The idea that all sounds can be heard as music and, thus, that music is all around us, has the potential to open young readers to different ways of experiencing the world. And Cage’s story as a boundary-pushing thinker celebrates originality and courage.
Nothing: John Cage and 4’33”
Written by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Chris Raschka
(Holiday House, 2024)
There may have been no such thing as “nothing” in the world of the 20th-century American avant-garde composer John Cage. For Cage, silence was “real sound,” and sound – any sound or combination of sounds – was music. These revolutionary ideas inspired Cage to invent musical works that seemed to be composed on the spot and as if by chance. Pianist David Tudor’s 1952 world premiere of Cage’s masterwork, 4’33” in the Maverick Concert Hall in Woodstock, New York, featured no actual piano paying, but, as Nothing author Nicholas Day notes, the performance did feature the sounds of pattering rain, rustling tree leaves and the stirring of perplexed audience members. I think it would delight Cage that that landmark musical event is the epicenter of Nothing. The concert laid bare Cage’s expansive views on music, including the idea that, as author Nicholas Day notes, at every performance of Cage’s 4’33”, the piece “is written by the listener.” Perhaps the book’s most important point for young readers is, that while many initially decried Cage’s 4’33” as senseless non-music, the work remains a landmark of conceptual musical art. In the face of his critics, Cage continued to make bold creative moves. Sometimes life takes courage, and Cage’s story can inspire young readers to think outside the box and fortify them to persevere when challenges arise.
Watch and write your own music to this video of David Tudor’s 1952 world premiere of Cage’s 4’33”:
Pokko and the Drum
written and illustrated by Matthew Forsythe
(Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2019)
Pokko is a frog who lives quietly with her parents in a mushroom. Her parents give her a drum – and that’s where the quiet part of the story ends. Author/illustrator Matthew Forsythe’s enchanting tale of a young frog who finds her passion and her voice from playing her drum is a delight to read. The message of individual empowerment within family and community are important in an increasingly interconnected world.
Hold On to Your Music: The Inspiring True Story of the Children of Willesden Lanewritten by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen, illustrated by Sonia Possentini
(Little, Brown & Company, 2021)
Early in the dark days of World War II, Lisa Jura, a gifted young Jewish pianist in Vienna, discovered her special passion for music. As the Nazis’ murderous plague of anti-Semitism spread through Vienna and across Europe, Lisa’s mother told her, “you must always remember to hold on to your music. It will be your best friend.” In Hold On to Your Music, Lisa Jura follows her mother’s advice, as her parents place her on a Kindertransport train from Vienna bound for safety in Great Britain. With co-author Lee Cohen, Mona Golabek outlines the true story of her mother’s departure from war-torn Vienna to life in a boarding house for Jewish refugee children on London’s Willesden Lane. “As the bombs dropped onto London,” Golabek and Cohen write, “Lisa practiced in the basement. The closer the bombs, the louder she played. The sound of the explosions faded as Lisa’s music soared.” All that practicing led to Lisa’s studies at London’s Royal Academy of Music and, after the end of the war, her London debut. Hold On to Your Music offers young readers the powerful messages that beauty is stronger than hate, that music speaks louder than the terrible noise of war.
Violin & Cello
written by Catherine Greer, illustrated by Joanna Bartel, music by Alexander Lau
(EK Books, 2022)
A young violinist and a young cellist live nearby and can hear each other practicing, but they’ve never met. One day the violinist has an inventive idea that brings the two musicians together as friends and collaborators. And the music they make together – which appears in the form of playable musical scores in the text of the books – lifts up their whole neighborhood. Learning how to play a musical instrument takes a lot of time and work and can be an isolating pursuit. Violin & Cello sends the message that music is best made – and shared – with others.
The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music
written by Roberta Flack with Tonya Bolden, illustrated by Hayden Goodman
(Anne Schwartz Books, 2023)
The five-time Grammy Award-winning singer Roberta Flack tells the true story of discovering her passion for music during her tender years in Asheville, North Carolina. From hearing her mother play the piano, to taking up the instrument herself at age 3, to her years of piano lessons, Flack directs her musical life story to the watershed moment when, through her father’s clever thinking, she acquired the green piano in the book’s title. The Green Piano shows that that big dreams are often born in humble places, and that love and persistence can help make those dreams come true.
As Glenn As Glenn Can Be
written by Sarah Ellis, illustrated by Nancy Vo
(Groundwood Books, 2022)
Arguably one of the most brilliant classical musicians of the 20th century, the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould cut a unique path through the international musical scene and left a remarkable musical legacy. Best known for his recordings of J.S. Bach’s music, Gould had a brilliant musical mind that enabled him to sculpt Bach’s intricate counterpoint into textures of crystalline clarity. And as author Sarah Ellis notes, Gould also grew up different – wearing scarves and mittens even during summer, finding groups of people challenging, getting strange vibes from the kids at school, who found Gould “weird.” As Glenn As Glenn Can Be shows how Gould’s social differences and musical genius combined in a unique international career that culminated in what remains one of the most blazingly original discographies in classical music. The book’s imperative – to follow difference as the beacon into one’s own uniquely beautiful life – is vitally important for readers of all ages.
For even more great children’s books about music, check out these stories:
10 Great Children’s Books about Classical Music
15 Great Children’s Books about African American Musicians and Dancers
10 More Great Children’s Books about Classical Music
Harpsichords Travel Through Time and Around the World in New Picture Book
