The Round Book: Rounds Kids Love to Sing

by Margaret Read MacDonald, Winifred Jaeger

Recognized as Bowker Best Books for Young Children & Winner of Storytelling World Honor This handy paperback presents 80 songs designed to be sung as rounds. Each one appears on an uncluttered page or two, illustrated by a simple ink drawing. From sixteenth-century tunes to contemporary camp songs, the selection is rich and varied, and the appended bibliography, "More Rounds for the Avid Singer," suggests other books and recordings. Song leaders will find the clearly written suggestions for round singing particularly helpful. A fine resource for school music teachers, choir directors, camp leaders, and children who sing for the love of it. School Library Journal wrote, "The selections are written in such a way that the staves are connected and numbered to denote each part...MacDonald's more sophisticated book seems geared to adults who would be leading the singing. Somewhat static black-and-white drawings open up each chapter. Overall, the introduction and instructions on singing rounds plus the appended history, advice for directors, additional suggestions of rounds, and a title/first-line index help to make this offering useful for most collections."

Genres: Music

136 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

About the author

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Biography
Dr. Margaret Read MacDonald travels the world telling stories....always on the lookout for more great folktales to share. She shapes these found stories into tellable tales which anyone can share with ease. Filling her folktale collections with these delightful tales, she creates perfect read alouds for you and your family. MRM wants everyone to experience the joy of a beautifully told tale. She hopes you will read them a few times...then put down the book...put down the electronic device...and just TELL the story to your children!

Some of her favorite folktales she expands into picture books...hopefully with delightfully readable language while will roll right out of your mouth. Share them with your children and then....act the tales out! Revisit the tales by TELLING them! At bedtime. While on the road. Fill your pockets with great stories to share wherever you go.

Joining her Folklore Ph.D. with her 30 plus years as a children's librarian, Margaret brings folktales to life in playful, lilting language which should delight both reader and listener.

See her performance schedule at: www.margaretreadmaconald.com

Reviews

[Tandava Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great collection. Lots of good choices, clearly laid out to show how the different parts enter, with illustrations and comments on the songs. I also found it to be great sight-singing practice, as I actually tried to sing each one without an instrument as I read through the book. And now that I've sung through 80 rounds, it makes me want to start writing some myself!

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 80 rounds that celebrate the good things in life: friendship, nature, giving thanks, and music itself. There are brief suggestions on how to use them, and pointers on how to sing them. Also a brief history of the round and more round sources for the avid singer.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection of rounds for singing. Includes a melody line of notes.
It would have been nice to have chords included, but as the melodies are simple and in major keys, it was not difficult to figure out easy chords for accompanying the singing.