M is for Melody: A Music Alphabet Edition

Sleeping Bear Alphabets

by Kathy-jo Wargin, Katherine Larson (Illustrator)

From the oom pah pah of the brass section to the tickle and tease of the keyboard ivories, "M is for Melody" gives a music lesson in alphabet form. Instruments, composers, terms, and even musical styles are examined from A-Z in easy, read-aloud rhymes and expository, accompanied by colorful and engaging artwork. Based on MENC National Standards for Music Education, educators will find this a valuable addition to their classroom material.

Genres: Music, Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2004

About the author

Kathy-jo Wargin is the bestselling author of more than fifty books for adults and children. With more than 1.2 million copies sold, she writes across genres and age-groups, and has earned national recognition for award–winning titles such as Michigan’s Official State Children’s Book The Legend of Sleeping Bear, the International Reading Association’s Children's Choice Award Winner The Legend of the Loon, the Bank Street College of Education Best Book Listee The Voyageur’s Paddle, the IRA Teacher's Choice Award Winner Win One for the Gipper, and many more.

Reviews

[Janet]

Yes, this title is an ABC book about music, however it is not for the youngest children. In fact the content is appropriate for third grade and up or for a music teacher to introduce musical terms and concepts. Actual text is brief, but some of those small print paragraphs are rather detailed. This title is part of a series by Sleeping Bear Press and I am interested in reading the ones on art, books, and Native Americans.

[Kathryn]

As with other books in this series, a good choice for sharing with multiple ages as the poems can be read aloud to younger children while older children can go more in-depth with the sidebars which feature further information on each point. I don't find it really stellar in either writing or illustration, but it presents a good package for education. The focus here is on European and American music so you will want to look elsewhere if searching for more breadth.

[Stephanie Luebbert]

Wonderful illustrations! I used this teaching.... There is a quiz at the end that's nice. Each letter has a word with a quick poem about it, but there's also a more in-depth description for each subject, so you can choose whether you want to go through the book quickly or stop and spend some time.

[Cheryl]

Skimmed March 2021.
It's fine, with vibrant pictures, easy text, and supplemental finer print text. But it does not have universal appeal... which means that I, with no training & no ability to hear w/skill, found it uninteresting.

[Asher]

I love the "O is for Orchestra" and "P is for Percussion" pages.

[Michelle Rogers]

I loved this book on music. It has short rhythmic alphabet based sections, as well as, longer portions that elaborate on a musical term. All my kids ages 2 to 11 enjoyed it and I did too!

[Shay]

great way to introduce all the elements of music!!

[Ina]

This is an awesome themed alphabet book. The illustrations are clever as well as beautiful. An example: "T is for tempo" and the illustration is a turtle (Largo) and a rabbit (Presto). Brass, woodwinds, conductors and composers, they are all here. My favorite: "I is for instrument. Which one will you play? When you join the band, you'll have fun every day." There is a "Q & A" review (with answers) in the back of the book.

[Dominique St-pierre]

Though I wasn't in love with this book, I did like how the author kept much of the descriptive/informational writing off to the sides of each page. I used this to help contribute to my students' learning of instruments in their music class. I don't know that I would use the same book over, but I, personally, found it interesting.

[Gina Mastrianno]

I got this book at the Community Library of the Shenango Valley. I liked that this book showed art integration! It ties in the alphabet and the different things about music, like melody, anthem, and etc. I would definitely recommend this for teachers who want to integrate music and literature in their classrooms.

[Kelsey]

Combines poetry with nonfiction blurbs. A little text heavy for a picture book but caregivers can have descriptions to describe words of most interest to them, or it's good for advanced readers.

Has some patriotic themes in it.

[Lynn Davidson]

Beautifully illustrated alphabet book is about music and musical instruments. For each letter there is information about the chosen word for that letter. Very interesting and educational. There is also a quiz at the end: Q & A The Musical Way.

[Danni]

This was a cute book.