Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells

Great Musicians

by Opal Wheeler, Mary Greenwalt (Illustrator)

Here is the story of Ludwig van Beethoven, greatest master of all, told with feeling and delicate skill for boys and girls. Perhaps he, too, will become a musician like all the Beethovens, thought his

Genres: Music, Biography, Childrens, History, Nonfiction

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opal Wheeler writes delightful biographies for the child transitioning from listening to picture books to family read-alouds!

Wheeler’s style flows nicely, is engaging and is easy to understand. The book focuses primarily on the early, childhood and young adult years of the composer. Almost every single page spread has a picture which helps with attention and imagination. Included are excerpts from the composer’s works that can be played or sung for additional learning and for familiarization with the classics.

Definitely a good series of books to add to your home library!

Ages: 5 - 10

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[Isabella Leake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our third Opal Wheeler biography, and so far everyone's favorite! Beethoven's youth (with some details, such as his father's alcoholism, unmentioned) makes a very good children's story. His whole life, in fact, is so full of interest, pathos, and dramatic irony, and his character for the most part so noble and pitiable, that it's an arresting story for any audience. I myself was so captivated by Beethoven's life that I searched for a grown-up biography, which I'm now enjoying immensely. 

And since I'm reading that grown-up biography, I can say that Opal Wheeler does a good job portraying Beethoven's early life, but her treatment of his adulthood is much less accurate. This inaccuracy could, on the one hand, be the result of poor research or use of sources that have since been discredited; on the other hand, it could stem from the need either to compress several decades into a couple of chapters or to suppress less child-friendly incidents (Napoleon attacking Vienna, his brother's death from tuberculosis, legal battles over guardianship of his nephew). Perhaps it's a combination of some of the four possibilities. In any case, though I wish the latter portion of the biography were not so inaccurate, it's easy to forgive the book because of its many outstanding virtues.

One of the things I love about Opal Wheeler biographies is the music included (chosen to be within reach of a child pianist...also suited to an adult re-beginner like me!). We have all found Beethoven's music particularly seductive. When I started playing a few of the selections, I found myself uninterested in playing any music but Beethoven's for a few weeks. Nothing else, for all its excellences, has that sumptuous yet surprising Beethoven quality, which is present even in his early and easy works. I quickly went to IMSLP for complete editions of the individual selections scattered throughout the book.

I want to describe more fully the effect this book had, but to do that I need to give some context. It seems that 2024 opened a new era of music study in our home. First, and most obviously, we acquired a piano, which has put within my grasp more easy repertoire—delicious Beethoven sonatinas and bagatelles, a swoon-worthy Haydn sonata, ultra-satisfying First Lessons in Bach—than is available for my primary instrument, the viola. Our home seems full of live (though imperfect) music for the first time since my children were born, and I relish the ability not only to listen to music but to make it. I have also begun piano lessons with my eldest, planning to start the other two over the course of the next year.

Second, we discovered Opal Wheeler's composer biographies. We read, through the year, those about Bach, Haydn, and, now, Beethoven. We all found them enchanting. The biographies reminded me how much knowledge of an artist's life enriches study of his art, and they gave me some important leads as to that easy repertoire mentioned above. For my children, the books opened a whole world of music history by giving them a kind of friendship with these three composers. 

Now my almost-6yo asks what composer we're listening to ("What is this music? I mean, is it Beethoven...or Bach?"), and my 7yo extrapolates from the three biographies, "To be a great musician you have to practice a lot! I want to be a great musician...but I don't know if I can." (You certainly can, Ned...but it is also a noble and glorious thing to be a mere amateur musician.) All three children speak in tender tones of "Josef Haydn" or "Ludwig" as if they were personal friends.

And there has been discussion of their music in some detail. My boys are apt to name their favorites among the pieces I play, sometimes even "my favorite Beethoven" or "my favorite Bach" (they can't distinguish their styles yet; but they sometimes ask, or I tell them). My 9yo tells me exactly which parts he likes, and they usually turn out to be the development sections—cool! 

My own musical life has been immeasurably enriched by sharing it with my children: a convergence of something precious with something else precious.

I am gratified to see my children engaging so emotionally and thoughtfully with the music of these three composers, and all this thought and emotion has its origin in reading the Opal Wheeler biographies.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is cute. I read it when I was in elementary school, and I was glad to find it again. :)

[Bekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m in the minority I know but the Opal Wheeler books fall flat for me every time. They seem formulaic and my kids tune out so easily when I’m reading them.

[Gina Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sweet little introductory biography! My kids are all older than the intended audience but I still think I’ll have my 13 year old that plays piano read this. It’s an easy, relatively short, well written, and engaging book. I love that so much of Beethoven’s music was included. It is a book that highlights the good and diminishes the suffering but still talks about it. Certainly not a full and extensive biography about him, but very appropriate for elementary school.

[Lmichelleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids really connected to this story of what Ludwig Beethoven may have felt and experienced in his lifetime as a great musician, with yet his share of many troubles. I appreciated hearing about the hard times and ending the story with his presentation of his symphony of joy, the Ninth Symphony. Very well done children's biography.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful book! The story of Beethoven's life, from childhood through his old age is told in a charming manner. The stories behind specific pieces of music are accompanied by the music itself. I was inspired to sit at my piano and try a few. This is a much older book and the copy I read was in a bit of disrepair but still very informative and inspiring.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cleaned up for children. Very readable. My kids enjoyed it.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars I loved this book. My gents loved this book.

[Alicia Perrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read this over 12 weeks as we studied Beethoven in our homeschool (1st and 3rd grade). It was not a book that we just fell in love with, like many of the books we study from, but it did familiarize us with his life in a way that was accessible to my 6 and 8 yr old boys, and we enjoyed pausing the story to play the pieces of music scattered throughout the book.

[Steve Hemmeke · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite composer.
Printed music included, to play.
Biography accessible to children.

[Meredith Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

(with Ben & Mabry)

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feels like stepping backstage to befriend Beethoven and his friends. Enjoyable learning with music interspersed that was fun to enjoy.

[Kari]

Aha! After all these years, I finally found it! I read this book when I was so young I paid no attention to what it was called or who it was by, and never saw it again in that funny old library. But I always remembered the illustrations. I've looked up quite a few Beethoven books for kids in the years since looking for those pictures and never found them. What I liked best then was all the piano music; I couldn't play much of it at age 6, but I was so proud that I could play some of it. And this book informed me that library books with music in them existed, and I could check them out and get hold of new music that way, which I have done rather regularly since, and it's still one of the greatest discoveries in my life to date.