A History of Music for Children

By Mary Richards, David Schweitzer and Rose Blake

  • is a writer, publisher and musician from London.

  • is a British composer.

  • is an illustrator and artist from the UK.

  • in 2021 by Thames & Hudson Ltd, London.

  • 7+

I am a big fan of encyclopedias by Thames&Hudson. I have a few in my collection and can’t wait for A History of Fashion for Children to be released. I am currently running a History of language course and find A History of Words for Children very helpful.

Rose Blake’s illustrations are funny and not overbearing. They don’t jump out and take all the attention off the page. Mary Richards and David Schweitzer provide just enough information. It’s neither too simple, nor too much for KS1 students and can be interesting and informative enough for adults.

I appreciate logic in this book. It starts with telling us about how music started. But it also makes children answer a lot of questions and think over the provided information. For example, we all agree that song birds can sing. But is it music? And if we can describe some pieces of music as banging, is banging music?

All stories in this book are connected in a very logical way. We talk about birds singing and then about musicians who were inspired by birdsong. We learn why our ancestors were singing and making first musical instruments and what meaning music bore for them.

Even those who don’t like music are going to appreciate this book. It’s not made for musicians but for those who want to understand how it all works. It doesn’t push you into loving opera but gives you a taste and explains how it became popular.

So this book tells you about different types of music throughout the ages and answers the questions: who? why? when? where and how people create it.