John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads: A Sing Along Book for Toddlers and Kids About Family and the Beauty of the World Around Us (Gifts for Music Lovers)

by John Denver, Christopher Canyon (Illustrations), Taffy Nivert

Take Me Home, Country Roads , a book following the lyrics of John Denver's first hit song, is a great teaching tool for young readers about family and appreciation for the natural world around us. This brilliant picture book adaptation of John Denver's first hit song is all about roots, family, and country. Set in Appalachia, a humorously diverse bunch of relatives and their in-laws go up, down and around the hills of West Virginia to converge by car, pickup, and motorcycle to a family reunion at Grandma and Grandpa's country home. True to Appalachian style, Canyon portrays it all as if on a quilt, complete with little stitches between the "fabric." The lyrics demand to be sung! A book for:

Genres: Picture Books, Music, Childrens, Family, Fiction, American, Juvenile

34 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2005

About the author

John Denver, born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., was an American folk singer-songwriter and folk rock musician who was one of the most popular artists of the 1970s. He recorded and released some 300 songs, about half of which he had composed, and was named Poet Laureate of Colorado in 1977.

Denver's songs were suffused with a deep and abiding love of the natural world. Songs such as "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (1971), "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Calypso" (1975), "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", and "Rocky Mountain High" (1973) are popular worldwide. Denver has been referred to as "The Poet For the Planet", "Mother Nature's Son" (based on The Beatles song he covered) and "A Song's Best Friend".

Reviews

[Flo]

I'll just have to visit West Virginia someday. Right?


June 7, 2020

[Dolly]

We recently heard a cover of this song while eating lunch at a restaurant and I reminisced about hearing John Denver's original version over and over in my youth. So when I saw this book at my local library, I jumped at the chance to share it with our girls.

It was a fantastic way to share the homey feeling of the song, and now that we live in Virginia (it's much closer to West Virginia than where I grew up), our girls understand the pull of the beautiful country roads and the Shenandoah River.

The quilt-like illustrations are gorgeous and look quilted. The scenes are classic West Virginia settings and the way that the words follow the song's pace is fantastic. We really enjoyed reading this book together and singing the song very loudly...a couple of times.

2024 update: I found this book at a gift shop at Blackwater Falls State Park, in Davis, WV and had to read it again. After rereading my original review of this book, it astounds me that I had no idea back in 2013 that we would find a cabin in the mountains of West Virginia in 2014, spent most of our weekends and holidays there, inspire several friends and family members to move nearby, and plan to move there full time by 2025.

[Jackie316]

This book is awesome! This goes above what you'd expect from an artistic rendition of John's song. The only sad part is that he didn't get to see this while he was alive.

I love the artwork! The people look like they could be John Denver & his family, or my own family.

[Peacegal]

4.5 stars -- Folksy and nostalgic, I loved the illustrations. I also enjoyed that it showed a very diverse collection of people getting together for a family reunion and finding happiness and agreement in music and the beauty of the countryside.

[Ryk Stanton]

Amazing. I’m glad someone thought to do this. I need to go back and listen to my old John Denver CDs now. Such a beautiful book. I got to read it for free on Epic, but I feel I need to add it to my library.

[Meg]

Being a West Virginia native, I will forever love this song. I love the Appalachian style quilt illustrations to accompany the lyrics. The illustrator did a great job of showcasing the Mountain State in an authentic way to our culture.

[Becker Children]

I love books that are sung, not read, and I've known and loved this song since I was very young. The illustrations could be described as whimsical and charming and I've had fun introducing my children to this song. They like playing the CD as well.

[Beverly]

Illustrated somewhat like a quilt.

[Stacie]

Just a wonderful book. Fabulous family reunion with joyful pictures.

[Judy]

Precious book that brought back memories of driving with my young children and singing this song.

[Ranette]

The wonderful illustrations give readers, or singers, lots to look at. The song is published at the back and it would be fun to sing. I can see families going through this book many times.

[Jess Weaver]

This book was adorable. This book is a song book, where the story is the lyrics of the song. The song that is used in this book is John Denver's Take me Home, Country Roads. The visual aspect of this book is the real star of the story. It takes the reader through a visual journey about what John Denver originally sang about. I chose this book because I saw it in the library and John Denver is one of my favorite artists growing up. My dad loved John Denver's music and that really affected my taste for music as well. I saw this and could not help but take it home and read it. I even showed it to my dad since we both love this song. I would add this to my library and use it to show my kids me and my dads song. I do think it is meant for more of younger kids but even then it is something so quick and easy to read to your kids during bed time that they might learn to love it as they grow older. I think that this could be a hit or miss depending the student if they would add it to their library.

[Andrea D.]

Perfect little book to teach our grandson our favorite song. The art work is lovely.

[Brittany Williams]

No Awards
Appropriate grade levels: PreK-K
This book is about going back to the place you know as home. It tells the journey you can go on to get to a certain place. When you get home, you will have loved ones waiting for you!
I think this book is very sweet and cute. The illustrations are amazing and I love the story it tells! It might be a little hard for children to understand because they don't have to travel far to get home.
You could use this book for transitions because it isn't very long. You could also use this book to talk about description words!

[Steve Holden]

Another of Christopher Canyon's books that I proudly own from when he visited our school. This one, of all by John Denver, has a special part in my heart and soul. As a big sports fan, I'm very loyal to the West Virginia basketball team, and this song is about that state and famously is sung loudly after every victory. The illustrations in this book do it justice, and as all the books by Mr. Canyon, you can find the music in the back. It's a great song to play and have your class move around to as well!

[Diana Turnbull]

1. Awards the book has received (if any): No awards received.
2. Appropriate grade level(s): Kindergarten-2nd grade
3. Original summary: An enthralling adaption to the song made famous by John Denver, this story displays all the fun of country life. It includes colorful and funny illustrations. This book is informational about the culture in West Virginia and the landscapes, animals, and other sights there.
4. Original review: This is an exciting way to incorporate music with text and cultural awareness in a classroom. The colorful pictures on each page are flashy and vibrant, which draws the reader in. Overall a charming book with a simple but useful message.
5. 1-2 possible in-class uses: Sing-along, learning about different states in America

[Smeadster smead]

I thought that this story is a good story travel with!!!!!!!!I once had John Denver come to my school!!!!:)I really liked him!He was really nice and he showed us how he made his stories!He is very talented!!!!!When he came to our school he was selling his books and autographing them!!!!!!!I recomend all of his books that are on my book list!!!!!:)Well thanks for reading!He is coming to my school again!!!:)

[Mummy Cat Claire]

This is a way cute children's book. We borrowed this from the library. It comes with a CD of the song, sung by Denver. The illustration is amazing. So much is going on in each picture that you can stare at them for days. My kids like to hear the music and follow the book. Sometimes they even play the CD just to hear it.

[Lyndsay]

Because of this book, now I have this song stuck in my head. The same illustrator and author has done all of these John Denver picture books, but honestly you almost wouldn't know it. Each book's illustrations are so different and so fantastic you would swear it was a different person each time. I love it.

[Ashley]

I am planning on reading this sweet little book for a music and movement class I have planned next week. The illustrations are beautiful, set to the words of John Denver's classic song. I love, love, love the feeling of home and family and country it incites. Great as an introduction to John Denver, even for the small ones!

[Beck]

I bought the John Denver "series" so far for a friend of mine who's having a baby. We LOVE John Denver's music, and if you're a fan - your kid MUST have these books. They're really well illustrated and come with a CD of John singing whichever song is the words to the book.... neat stuff.

[Meadow]

The kid LOVES this book. It has the sheet music in the back and she "played" it on the piano plus we have listened to the included CD over and over again.

The pictures are well done and it really isn't that bad. Plus, you can see the story, and that is always fun.

[Stacy Natal]

Dante's preschool class gave us this book when we were moving out of West Virginia. We played the Cd as we pulled out of our driveway (never to return) and we bawled our eyes out listening to it. Still reminds me of the beauty of the place every time we pull it out to reread it.

[Susan]

I bought this for my daughter, but I have to admit partially for me too! The illustrations are beautiful. This reminds me why I love my home state of West Virginia.

[Kim]

fun book with great illustrations and a cd of the song

[Teri]

This is always a nice change--a true radio hit in a picture book. I didn't know this song won 1 of 10 Best Country Songs of the Century in 1999.

[Melanie Hetrick]

Another beautifully illustrated John Denver song. Christopher Canyon's illustrations really encourage kids to examine the pictures closely.

[Conquering]

I love to be able to share great music with my children in a different way that helps to bring it to life.

[Paula]

A picture book adaptation of John Denver's song Take me home, country roads, which celebrates the experience of arriving home to the countryside of West Virginia.

[Lisa Hechesky]

An interesting adaptation of the song Take me home, country roads.
Color and funny illustrations. Good for teaching children the song and a little about West Virginia.