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Showdown Symphony: A farmyard adventure in pictures, music, and poetry
A poetic, symphonic tale of courage and creativityLovers of picture books, poetry, and classical music, unite! For the first time in maybe ever, kids and adults can enjoy a humorous, thrilling story that combines all three.
The Showdown: One autumn night, while searching for seeds to feed her family, a clever mother mouse encounters a cat and an owl on the prowl for a meal of their own. Who will get to eat?
The Symphony: The story is told in five symphonic movements (allegro, adagio, andante, scherzo, & allegretto), with each movement developing plot and character through a unique poetic stanza pattern. The accompanying symphony also develops the story through its tempo, motif, and instrumentation.
Watch and listen to the narrated, orchestrated video version through a website link at the end of the eBook and a QR code in the paperback version!
This book is perfect Children ages 3+ who love stories told through music and poetry Parents who want their kids to have delightful early experiences with music and poetryMusic teachers and general ed teachers who champion arts integrationPoetry instructors wanting to demonstrate Pope's / Frost's "sound and/of sense" theory, specifically by showing how trochaic, iambic, spondaic, and anapestic meters of varying line lengths and rhyme schemes reflect the characters and action their language describes.Learning Resources: Showdown Symphony introduces a variety of music and language arts concepts, which are available in printable and digital format as posters, slideshows, worksheets, and activity pages through our website. Digital Animated book video, three audiobook versions (music only, narration only, music + narration)
Praise for Showdown Symphony
"A go-to treasure for spending time with my granddaughter…In one volume, it encapsulates everything parents and teachers hope to find across an array of picture books. —Annette Lyon, USA Today bestselling author of Just One More
"A beautiful way to interweave listening and literature." - Aileen Miracle, Mrs. Miracle's Music Room
"There are many picture books that teach about music, but Showdown Symphony is one of the few I know that also teaches through music. It's an unforgettable experience of tempos and instruments working with pictures and words to tell a delightful story." - Jeanette Shorey, music teacher and creator of Stories that Sing music education website
"This beautifully written book reads like a classic. An engaging storyline will captivate children, and the incredible artistry makes the whole experience come to life. It's hard for music educators to find resources that teach musical concepts, but this book does not disappoint." - Vicky Weber, music educator, author, and founder of At Home Author
The Showdown: One autumn night, while searching for seeds to feed her family, a clever mother mouse encounters a cat and an owl on the prowl for a meal of their own. Who will get to eat?
The Symphony: The story is told in five symphonic movements (allegro, adagio, andante, scherzo, & allegretto), with each movement developing plot and character through a unique poetic stanza pattern. The accompanying symphony also develops the story through its tempo, motif, and instrumentation.
Watch and listen to the narrated, orchestrated video version through a website link at the end of the eBook and a QR code in the paperback version!
This book is perfect Children ages 3+ who love stories told through music and poetry Parents who want their kids to have delightful early experiences with music and poetryMusic teachers and general ed teachers who champion arts integrationPoetry instructors wanting to demonstrate Pope's / Frost's "sound and/of sense" theory, specifically by showing how trochaic, iambic, spondaic, and anapestic meters of varying line lengths and rhyme schemes reflect the characters and action their language describes.Learning Resources: Showdown Symphony introduces a variety of music and language arts concepts, which are available in printable and digital format as posters, slideshows, worksheets, and activity pages through our website. Digital Animated book video, three audiobook versions (music only, narration only, music + narration)
Praise for Showdown Symphony
"A go-to treasure for spending time with my granddaughter…In one volume, it encapsulates everything parents and teachers hope to find across an array of picture books. —Annette Lyon, USA Today bestselling author of Just One More
"A beautiful way to interweave listening and literature." - Aileen Miracle, Mrs. Miracle's Music Room
"There are many picture books that teach about music, but Showdown Symphony is one of the few I know that also teaches through music. It's an unforgettable experience of tempos and instruments working with pictures and words to tell a delightful story." - Jeanette Shorey, music teacher and creator of Stories that Sing music education website
"This beautifully written book reads like a classic. An engaging storyline will captivate children, and the incredible artistry makes the whole experience come to life. It's hard for music educators to find resources that teach musical concepts, but this book does not disappoint." - Vicky Weber, music educator, author, and founder of At Home Author
- GenresPicture BooksMusicCats
Kindle Edition
Published February 28, 2024
1 person is currently reading
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 31, 2025
We were gifted the book and the mouse plushy for Christmas. The illustrations are stunning, and it creatively teaches kids about music. My kids are just a bit too young for the text but they love the illustrations.
March 17, 2024
Showdown Symphony is simple and beautiful enough to just enjoy on its own but also a genius way to introduce young readers to different musical terms and rhythms. Highly recommend!
March 6, 2024
A beautifully illustrated tale
This book has stunning illustrations. The rhyming tale is absolutely perfect! And the way it blends the poetry with the rhythm of music is magic. Highly recommended.
This book has stunning illustrations. The rhyming tale is absolutely perfect! And the way it blends the poetry with the rhythm of music is magic. Highly recommended.
March 9, 2024
Lovely introduction to music with a thrilling farmyard story
Mama rat scurries to the farm to get seeds for her family. But there is a prowling cat. There is also a dangerous owl.
Cute thrilling story meant for both adults and children and also introduces a form of classical music. Enjoyed it.
Mama rat scurries to the farm to get seeds for her family. But there is a prowling cat. There is also a dangerous owl.
Cute thrilling story meant for both adults and children and also introduces a form of classical music. Enjoyed it.
April 13, 2024
This story was fantastic!
I loved how music and rhythm played apart in this showdown. Fun and cute illustrations, a fast paced story, and a musical bout all intertwined to create this masterpiece. I highly recommend it.
I loved how music and rhythm played apart in this showdown. Fun and cute illustrations, a fast paced story, and a musical bout all intertwined to create this masterpiece. I highly recommend it.
December 26, 2025
This is such a wonderful tale, that has been so divinely illsutrated. If you are like me and grew up on Winds in the Willows, then you're probably looking for a style similar to show your own children, and Kevin has you covered.
This book does deal with larger words (or rather complicated, such as words that are used to describe symphony etc.) however, it was still a delightful read. If someone could remind me in a month or so to buy this book for myself, as this is a book I would read. The handdrawn art was absolutely stunning. The focus on the harvest makes this a sublime read for harvest season, the autumnal vibes were absolutely staggering.
To people following me: if you could take a moment to read this book and help increase who sees this book, and the reach. I have just checked on Youtube, a channel by the name of @ storytimefamily has a video up for this book.
I think in an age of ai, it is incredibly important that we as readers bring attention to books like this which are so beautifully crafted and designed. The colours used were very faint, but also super bright and coloruful at the same time. Although on goodreads this book says paperback, it is a hardback, and the pages are slightly glossy. I would love to see more by this author and by this illustrator.
It is rare we see books like this coming onto the market place. I'd give it a million stars if I could.
I would say for primary school kids who are potentially looking into learning an instrument. It provides some of the terminology for music.
This book does deal with larger words (or rather complicated, such as words that are used to describe symphony etc.) however, it was still a delightful read. If someone could remind me in a month or so to buy this book for myself, as this is a book I would read. The handdrawn art was absolutely stunning. The focus on the harvest makes this a sublime read for harvest season, the autumnal vibes were absolutely staggering.
To people following me: if you could take a moment to read this book and help increase who sees this book, and the reach. I have just checked on Youtube, a channel by the name of @ storytimefamily has a video up for this book.
I think in an age of ai, it is incredibly important that we as readers bring attention to books like this which are so beautifully crafted and designed. The colours used were very faint, but also super bright and coloruful at the same time. Although on goodreads this book says paperback, it is a hardback, and the pages are slightly glossy. I would love to see more by this author and by this illustrator.
It is rare we see books like this coming onto the market place. I'd give it a million stars if I could.
I would say for primary school kids who are potentially looking into learning an instrument. It provides some of the terminology for music.
February 10, 2025
Showdown Symphony is a clever book that tells the story of a mama mouse searching for food for her family in the structure of a 5-movement symphony. Each movement is given a tempo title (Allegro, Adagio, Andante, Scherzo, and Allegretto) and is told in rhyme. The movements are brief – one to six-page spreads – and are accompanied by lovely, harvest-colored illustrations by Sarah D. Newell. The companion website offers additional resources, like a digital media bundle with video and audio downloads of the book (there’s a whole soundtrack to accompany the story, which is pretty cool!). A wonderful book concept with many teaching opportunities for music teachers!
October 19, 2025
Not only is this a delightful concept to create a book with illustrations and music that work together as a musical teaching tool -- as well as an entertaining story, the illustrations are absolutely adorable too! The whole project is lovely -- a wonderful tool in the music room to teach various tempos (with their Italian names), but equally a fun adventurous story in its own right. Teachers, students, animal lovers, music lovers -- will all be lovers of this book, too!
November 4, 2024
This book is beautiful. The illustrations are beautiful for both children and adults. More importantly for me, as someone who know very little about music, it was a fun read with my children that allowed all of us te learn a little about music. Highly recommend it!
March 30, 2024
Showdown Symphony by Kevin Klein – This would be a cool book to use in a classroom or with a kiddo who can sit still long enough to enjoy the concept of music telling a story! Happy Reading!
July 8, 2024
This is quite lovely. The story makes use of musical terms and the artwork is beautiful. Quite charming. Good rhymes and a good story. Love the use of the musical terms.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews