The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home

by Susan Wise Bauer

Hammond, Susan, producer. Classical Kids series. Toronto: Children’s Group. $16.98. Order from any music store, from Rainbow Resource Center, or check your library. These CDs combine music with history and dramatic storytelling to familiarize children with great composers and their works. Very highly recommended. Beethoven Lives Upstairs. 2000. A young boy learns about Beethoven’s life through letters to his uncle. Hallelujah Handel. 2000. The composer gets involved in a fictional plan to help an orphan boy who sings but won’t speak. Mozart’s Magic Fantasy: A Journey Through “The Magic Flute.” 2000. A young girl is magically transported into the middle of The Magic Flute. Mr. Bach Comes to Call. 1999. An eight-year-old practicing the Minuet in G is startled when Bach shows up in her living room. Includes over twenty excerpts from Bach’s works. Tchaikovsky Discovers America. 1998. The composer arrives in New York in 1891 for the opening of Carnegie Hall. Vivaldi’s Ring of Mystery. 1998. An orphaned violinist tries to find out more about her family in Vivaldi’s Venice. Over twenty-four Vivaldi works are included.