I’m visiting two of my grandkids this week, and I discovered a few picture books that I’d gifted them in December but that I didn’t review then. Shhh. Please don’t tell them that MimiMum snuck today’s Perfect Picture Book off their bookshelf!
Title: How to Sing a Song
Written By: Kwame Alexander & Randy Preston
Illustrated By: Melissa Sweet
Publisher/Date: Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers/2024
Suitable for Ages: 4-8, and older
Themes/Topics: sing, song, nature, self-expression, arts, music, creativity, listening
Opening:
Hush.
Now, turn up your ears and listen to the concert happening all around you: A blue jay’s playful trill, a warble of belching frogs, trees swaying and shushing in conversation with the summer wind.
Brief Synopsis: A poetic lesson on how to sing.
Links to Resources:
· Go on a walk and listen to what’s around you. What birds or animals or insects do you hear? Do the plants make noises, too?
· Sing along to a favorite song;
· Try some singing games.
Why I Like this Book:
In How to Sing a Song, author Kwame Alexander and composer/musician Randy Preston show little listeners how to bring a song into their hearts and share it with the world.
As any musician knows, you can’t learn to sing from your heart until you learn to listen to the sweet sounds around you. Where is a great place to listen? Out in nature, of course, where the authors encourage children to “listen to the concert happening all around you.” In true “how to” fashion, readers learn that you then need to “seek the quiet symphony echoing inside” you. Once you’ve found this melody, add the beat by tapping feet and snapping fingers. Then “leap” into the song, “wail out each wondrous word…” Why? “Because when your soul catches fire it’s time to solo with the flames,” it’s time to SING!
The poetic text is sure to inspire little listeners to spring into song. With Sweet’s colorful art and the distinct layout of the text, How to Sing a Song is sure to be a hit with your music-loving littles.
A Note about Craft:
Like How to Write a Poem by Alexander, Deanna Nikaido/Sweet, Alexander and Preston provide a recipe using free-verse poetry to encourage readers to sing a song. And like that earlier picture book, the creators again address readers directly – drawing us in and inspiring our creativity.
This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!
Wander, Ponder, Write 