Music Is . . .

by Brandon Stosuy, Amy Martin (Illustrator)

Overview

From music writer and The Creative Independent/Kickstarter Editor in Chief Brandon Stosuy, comes an entertaining new board book that introduces the many moods, styles, and senses of music to the youngest audiophiles—because music is for everyone, and music is for you.

Featuring Amy Martin’s dynamic art style, Music Is… explains music through our eyes and ears so that the sense of hearing is transformed into a visual experience. A pitch-perfect board book that is sure to strike a chord with readers of all ages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481477024
Publisher:	Little Simon
Publication date:	10/04/2016
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	263,148
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Brandon Stosuy is the cofounder and editor in chief of The Creative Independent, published by Kickstarter. He previously worked as director of Editorial Operations at Pitchfork. Brandon curates the annual Basilica SoundScape festival in Hudson, New York, and has been a music curator at both MoMA PS1 in New York City and the Broad museum in Los Angeles. He is the author of three books on creativity, Make Time for Creativity, Stay Inspired, How to Fail Successfully, and two children’s books, Music Is... and We Are Music. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.

Amy Martin is an award-winning illustrator and art director. Amy wrote and illustrated the picture book Symphony City, and she has contributed work to McSweeney’s, Portland Monthly, the Los Angeles Times, the Detroit Free Press, Rock the Vote, Manifest Hope, Death Cab for Cutie, Sufjan Stevens, and St. Vincent. She is very proud to be an 826LA Time Travel Mart Employee of the Month. She lives in Portland with two cats. Visit her at AmyMartinIllustration.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 2016-10-19
This smart board book uses contrasts to introduce musical vocabulary to potential prodigies. Children of a variety of skin tones and ethnicities are shown playing, and playing with, music of all types. Stosuy respects the abilities of his young audience, matter-of-factly introducing sophisticated terminology. Each page is devoted to just one concept, with words, color, and retro-style images concisely illustrating its meaning, and is juxtaposed against its opposite on the facing page. For example, the opening line, "music is quiet," has a pale blue background and a brown-skinned child wearing earbuds while three birds fly overhead. The opposite page proclaims, "Music is LOUD," with a lighter-skinned brown child in marching-band regalia pounding a white bass drum against a bright red background. On the sad/happy pages, a small boom box placed off to one side suggests that recorded music is just as valid as live, performed music, a concept underscored later on with pictures of a cassette tape and an LP. "Music is hard" (illustrated with a shirtless, orange-haired white toddler pounding kitchen-pot drums with ladles) is opposite an olive-skinned man blissfully playing a harp with a cat on his lap. An "acoustic" banjo is paired with an aggressively wired "electric" guitar. A glossary on the final pages offers more-technical definitions. Altogether, a jazzy modern romp through musical styles that really is for everyone. (Board book. 18 mos.-3)

Kirkus Reviews