I stumbled upon Mordecai Gerstein's books quite by accident at the library several years ago.
We pulled "What Charlie Heard" off the shelf, got in the car, and...listened (it came with an audio CD - read by the author himself!). I knew from the get-go that it was a treasure. The lyrical book chronicles the life of musician and Pulitzer Prize winner Charles Ives. Written to be read aloud, the true story abounds with positive messages about pursuing passion, persevering in spite of opposition, and opening our ears to the music all around us.
I'd love to see more children's books like this - books that creatively record the lives of famous authors, musicians, scientists, and artists. I hope Mordecai Gerstein keeps writing them. He's a master storyteller.
I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of the book at your local library or - better yet - from an online bookstore. If you can get a copy with the audio, that's even better.
WIN IT! One winner will receive a copy of What Charlie Heard ($13.26) by Mordecai Gerstein! To enter, leave any topic-related comment on this post prior to Monday, July 18 at 11:59 p.m. All generic comments like “Enter me!” or “Love it” will be disqualified. Winner must provide a US mailing address.
* Thanks to Macmillan for providing two books - one for review and one for this giveaway.
*UPDATE* The winner is #17 Susan Varney. Congratulations!
I don't think that my children have any books about music. Our musically-challenged family would have fun reading this book.
I love the pages filled with drawings!
My daughter needs some new books. Looks like a great read, would love to win.
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Stephanie, I have to tell you something fun. I entered your book giveaway for Bats at the Library, commenting about our family's new favorite book author. A few days later, this author sent me an email thanking me for my comment and offering to send our family two autographed books! Cool, huh? Even when I don't win your giveaways, I still win!
Very cool! I hope that you love the book as much as we do. Let me know. :)
My children go through books so fast, I can't keep up with their love of reading.
I've never heard of this one before, but it sounds like a great book with an important story line. Thanks for the chance to enter!
I love books that actually teach some history, rather than just silliness.
I am a middle school language arts teacher and use picture books as read alouds all the time- this book looks like it would fit perfectly into my classroom library as it seems to offer many teaching points!
This sounds like a beautiful book. I would love to share it with my grandchildren.
This reminds me we haven't been to the library in a while. :) We are totally going to check this book out!
I've never heard of Charles Ives, but the book looks so fun and cute - love the BOOM pics
I would love to win this book for my son. I'm having a hard time finding meaningful books for him.
I love books with onomatopoeia and lyrical prose! This sounds like such a fun book to listen too and what a gem that it comes with an author-read version on CD. I am looking into books on CD for the car as we have some long trips coming up, and this sounds awesome! :)
cool- Im always looking for new authors when we go to the children's library=)
i would totally enjoy reading this book with my grandson
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What a cool book. I love books that grab the attention of the kids that are reading them and this would be perfect to add to the little one's growing book library. Thanks.
Yay! What a cute book! We are bonkers for audio books, so this would be a great addition to our library. I'm LOVING the updated MetMomma page...LOVING! the font is perfect...love the colors and the photo. It's exactly the update you needed!
First - I love the road picture on your blog. It really fits your life right now. I have never heard of these books but I am always looking for new books. Lately, Lily, my 3 year old has been picking board books from the library and she normally comes back with two different types. One is learning how to use the potty, use your words, don't bite type of educational/teaching books (the funny thing is, is that she already knows all of this stuff but she loves these books), the other type are books with a short sentence and a short theme revolving around an artisit such as monet or picasso.
What a neat book! Not only do children learn a little history, but they learn some valuable lessons. Thank you for the chance to win! :-)
I always love books that make you make noises! This looks like a great book!
This sounds like a fascinating book! I love read alouds!
These are the kinds of books we try to add to our library - things my kids will enjoy now and when they are older too!
We love books with "sound effects" -- A friend just gave us Froggy Gets Dressed, which is a lot of fun, too! It's supposed to be 103 here today (Yikes, that's Tucson weather, but with humidity!!!!), so we will probably head to the library. Maybe we'll find it there! Thanks for the recommendation! I take your recommendations very seriously.
I'm happy to hear that you do. I put careful thought into the books + products that I feature here. This one is a definite keeper! (Let me know if you are able to check it out).
A new book is always welcome in our library! This one sounds like an interesting story and a great way to introduce concepts that can be difficult to explain. Thanks for sharing it.
This would be awesome! My son loves listening to one he has like this about trains!
PS. Love the new header picture! :)
Look at your new blog design! Love it! So clean, crisp, fabulous!!
We would love to add this to our collection! Thank you for the opportunity! Even though we've never won, I always enjoy your book reviews
I've never had a book on CD before, but I did love them as a kid (well ours were on tape). ;) Always love to read to my girls and this book sounds wonderful!
I'm always on the lookout for great children's books. Thanks for this recommendation! BTW, I love the new header! Did you or Tim take that photo?
My nephew would totally love to read a book like this (or I guess have it read to him, to be more precise). He's having trouble with articulating and I think it would do him good to hear it read by a voice different from the ones he hears all the time!!
This book looks great. We are working on building Lily's library with books that are more then board books and this one looks like it would really fit it.