'De
Colores' and Other Latin-American Folk Songs for Children
José-Luis Orozco ISBN 0-525-45260-5
I was lucky enough to start my teaching career with this book, and I
am constantly amazed at how popular these folk-songs are. Not only
do my students love them, but whenever I meet someone from Central or South
America I ask them to teach me a children's song from their country...and,
more often than not, they begin teaching me a song I already know from
this book. Mr. Orozco's songs are fun, easy to sing (I was even told
that by a teacher who speaks no Spanish) and each song has a brief description
of where the song is from, when it is sung, and a translation. All
of the songs presented here are folk-songs with the exception of two of
Mr. Orozco's own compositions (both of which I've used and my students
have liked them just as much). If you are looking for songs from
Latin-America then this is definitely a good choice.
Dem Bones Bob Barner ISBN 0-8118-0827-0
This is a really net book that the first grade teachers in my school
have been using to incorporate music into the science curriculum.
The test is based upon the African-American spiritual and works its way
up from the foot to the head on the members of a skeletal band. And,
in the back of the book, there is a partial list of the names of the bones.
The art work is a lot of fun and the students really seem to enjoy it!
I bought the book and will use it in my higher grades as well!
Django
John Cech ISBN 0-02-765705-1
This is a really neat story that is based on the folk-tales of great
folk-musicians of the South. In this tale, Django inherits
his grandfather's fiddle and takes to it almost immediately.
But, as he improves, his playing almost becomes magical, bringing about
effects that make his parents wonder if it was a mistake to give the young
boy the instrument. My students enjoyed this book a lot, not only
for the whimsical story line, but also for the wonderful illustrations
by Sharon
McGinley-Nally.