Music History For Kids

This is the fascinating story of music. How it started with a song and became one of our most beloved arts. Learn how early composers added modal rhythm to religious chants and turned them into something greater. Discover how the printing press standardized music and helped it spread across the globe. Witness the birth of musical theater, opera, and classical music and the explosion of popular freeform music such as rhapsodies and preludes.

Best-selling author and Sundance award-winning director Questlove harnesses his encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and his deep curiosity about history to examine America over the past 50 years. Choosing one essential track from each year, Questlove unpacks each song’s significance, revealing the pivotal role that American music plays around issues of race, gender, politics, and identity.

This book contains a treasure trove of 1,001 facts that will astound you. Whether you're a trivia enthusiast, a parent looking for a fun learning tool, or simply someone who loves to learn new things, 1,001 Amazing Random Fun Facts for Adults and Kids is just the audiobook you need. Forget about boring textbooks and stale encyclopaedia entries! This audiobook captures the attention of both young and old with its easy-to-understand language and bite-sized snippets of knowledge. Perfect for road trips!

Riveting, elegant, and humorous, New York Times bestseller Year of the Monkey is a moving and original work, a touchstone for our turbulent times. Following a run of new year’s concerts at San Francisco’s legendary Fillmore, Patti Smith finds herself tramping the coast of Santa Cruz...

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ernest Cline comes a mostly true tall tale about an unexpected friendship between a young girl and a music-loving colony of bats. After losing her mother, thirteen-year-old Opal moves in with her uncle Roscoe on the family farm. There, Opal bonds with...

A musically gifted bird, a piano-playing boy, and a real-life mystery involving three artistic geniuses Welcome to the world of Mirabelle, a young goldfinch who loves to sing and dreams of becoming a musical star. She lives with her family in the backyard of a piano teacher, and she is quickly...

In Charles River Editors' History for Kids series, your children can learn about history's most important people and events in an easy, entertaining, and educational way. The concise but comprehensive book will keep your kid's attention all the way to the end. Born in Mississippi, a young kid named Elvis Presley came to Memphis as a teenager and changed music forever. Fusing country and rhythm and blues with rock, Elvis brought traditional African-American sounds to the forefront of music in the 1950s....

Featuring artists ranging from Miles Davis to Kendrick Lamar, dive into this stunningly illustrated celebration of the history of Black music in America by the award-winning author of The Undefeated. Listen to the sound of survival, courage, and democracy—the soundtrack of America. Hear...

A powerful biography of the influential civil rights leader and multitalented musician Coretta Scott King, with illustrations by Caldecott Honor winner Cozbi A. Cabrera. Young Coretta Scott was a gifted musician, learning multiple instruments and breaking barriers to study music in college...

The Fab Four, the most beloved band of all time, join the ranks of this New York Times bestselling biography series about heroes, for ages 5 to 9. They began as Johnny and the Moondogs, and they weren't very good. But these teens who loved music more than anything kept working at their craft and...

Find out how this English singer-songwriter and actor who constantly reinvented his look and sound became one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century in this new book from the #1 New York Times bestselling series. David Bowie, born David Robert Jones, wasn't just an...

A rollicking picture book biography about Charley Pride, the first Black country music superstar. He was gonna ride the clouds outta Sledge, Mississippi, with his rich, ringin’ rhymes and change the world one ditty, one ditty, one ditty at a time. Charley Pride was born...

Almost everyone can sing along with the Beatles, but how many young readers know their whole story? Geoff Edgers, a Boston Globe reporter and hard-core Beatles fan, brings the Fab Four to life in this Who Was...? book. Readers will learn about their childhoods in Liverpool, their first...

Read all about how a young boy from California who listened to polka music and played the accordion became a comedian, parody songwriter, and Grammy winner in this biography for young readers about “Weird Al” Yankovic! When Alfred Yankovic was seven years old, a salesman knocked on the door...

Celebrate the rise of pop sensation and singer-songwriter Chappell Roan with this collectible Little Golden Book, which tells her inspiring story! It’s being true to herself and creating the music she loves that has made Chappell Roan the artist she is today. Chappell Roan: A Little Golden...

Was Johnny Cash always the rebellious "Man in Black" that we remember him as today? Find out in this biography from the #1 New York Times bestselling series that takes us from Cash's childhood on an Arkansas cotton farm to his first days in rockabilly through his most famous years as a country...

Learn how a boy from Texas with an early talent for music grew up to become one of the most legendary country artists of our time in this addition to the #1 New York Times bestselling series. Willie Nelson showed interest and promise in music at a young age. After being gifted a guitar by his...

"Are you ready for it?" Learn all the details of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in this nonfiction book for young readers that teaches them about every Taylor album, from her debut to The Tortured Poets Department. On March 17, 2023, Taylor Swift began the Eras Tour. The historic concert tour would...

Legendary singer and Civil Rights activist Mavis Staples has teamed with an award-winning children’s poet to share her rousing life story in this spectacular picture book, adapted for audio. At 85, Mavis Staples is still singing in front of large audiences and sharing her message of love...

Help your little one dream big with a Little Golden Book biography about pop music icon, actress, and philanthropist Lady Gaga. Little Golden Book biographies are the perfect introduction to nonfiction for young readers—as well as fans of all ages! This Little Golden Book about Lady Gaga--the...