Sing Me a Story: The Metropolitan Opera's Book of Opera Stories for Children

by Jane Rosenberg, Luciano Pavarotti (Introduction)

“Engaging. . . . The text and illustrations exude the glamour, passion, and lyricism of opera.”― Publishers Weekly Jane Rosenberg’s delightful retellings for children of the greatest operas―whether the tales are read as introductions to a opera or to relive a production already seen, art and text combine to give a clear understanding of plot, scene, and character. Young children in particular will enjoy reading the stories―or having them read―both as lovely fairy tales and to help them share in the magic of a real dramatic performance.

Here are the gaiety of The Barber of Seville and the lavish spectacle of Aida . Sets, costumes, and lighting are re-created to give the true flavor of authentic productions and to approximate, as fully as possible, the experience of attending the opera oneself. 44 illustrations, 29 in color

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Music

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1989

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a kid & decided to read it again to learn more about Opera (one of my worst categories when watching Jeopardy, along with sports, the Bible, & the Grand Ole Opry). When I read this as a kid, I only read about the operas that I'd heard, so I'd skipped everything except for Carmen, Love for 3 Oranges, L'Enfent et les Sortileges, Barber of Seville, & Porgy and Bess. So that meant that I experienced fresh the bizarreness of the plots of all of the other Operas. Not sure if the strangeness & bizarreness of the stories is true to the Operas they are from or not, since I've still never seen any of these operas in their entirety (& even if I had, I don't understand German, Italian, French, singing English, or Russian). The selection of operas in Sing me a Story represents a compromise between showing the kids the operas they may have heard, such as Barber of Seville(?) & operas that might interest the kids, such as Hansel & Gretel(??). Not sure what category the Tales of Hoffman, Love for 3 Oranges, or Daughter of the Regiment would fit into. The page of notes on all of the Operas is interesting because it highlights how recent most of what we think of as classic Opera is; only 2 of the Operas in Sing me a Story are from before 1840, & most of them are from between 1892 & 1951. Recommended reading for anyone who doesn't get the Pagliacci joke.

[Lynnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depending on the age of the child, the reader might want to be careful which story is read because as expected there are some crazy relationships in operas. Overall, a fun way to familiarize kids with the stories of some famous operas. The book is even better if accompanied by audio or YouTube videos of the operas.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love that there is a book like this!

Having said that, I wasn't that thrilled with this book. I was hoping to find some of my favorite operas: La Traviata, Il Trovatore, even Eugene Onegin or Lucia di Lammermoor. None of them made the cut, but oddly there are some little-known (to me at least) ones -- L'Enfant et les Sortileges, The Love for Three Oranges, for instance.

The book is billed "for children," but although each of the 15 operas has at least a few drawings (some in color), most pages are mainly full of small print. Unless your child is a really gifted reader or at least 12, I don't think this is a book a child would be drawn to read. And the plots are told in what to me seemed like a confusing way. Perhaps, too, I was just reminded that many operas have plots that are convoluted and just plain odd!

[Marjorie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the opera stories recounted herein are depressing enough to turn the average person away from it, in my opinion!

[Cat. · Rating 4 out of 5]

About the only way I'm ever likely to "attend" the opera....