Ah, Music!: A Joyful Book About Instruments, Composers, and More for Children

by Aliki

In this richly layered compendium, Aliki, the beloved creator of many award-winning books for children, shares her keen insight about music and all its themes and variations. Ah, Music! is about composers and instruments. It’s about artists and performers. It’s about history—from the earliest music through classical, modern, jazz, and popular times. It’s about diversity and pleasure. Do you love music? Playing it and listening to it? Are you getting ready for your first recital? Then this book is for you! “Everything you’d ever want to know about from how to define it, to types of instruments, the voice as an instrument, how dance and music work together, its history and diversity, music as therapy, and the importance of practice. . . .There is something here for everyone, from the youngest fans of the simplest melody, to older children looking for a starting point for research, to anyone interested in finding out more about a favorite art form. The joy of music is not lost in all the information, however—the energetic art, particularly in the chapter on dance, conveys the power of music to inspire.”— Kirkus Reviews Supports the Common Core State Standards

Genres: Music, Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2003

About the author

Aliki has written and illustrated many books, both fiction and nonfiction, loved by readers throughout the world. The books were inspired by a word, an experience, or the desire to find out. Aliki lives in London, England.

Reviews

[Caitlyn Griefenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for showing children all about music. It goes through different instruments, variations, themes, and types of music. The pictures are great and there is a multitude of different instruments shown, the way you play them, and how many different types there are. I think children will like it especially if they play an instrument or are interested in music.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

the first couple pages might be of interest to younger children but the book as a whole is best for 7+. A great resource, needs a little clarification on the page about "pre-historic music" because it's written from an evolutionary worldview.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great introductory for anything that relates to music, volume, pitch, instruments, history. It is very accessible to children and engaging.

[June Pecchia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-researched overview of music, greatly enhanced by Aliki's illustrations that include a bounty of facial expressions that music can evoke. The carefully chosen clear and simple words and examples used to describe the indescribable – rhythm, melody, pitch, tone, and so on – are a good resource for me to use when teaching about music.

As always, Aliki writes and draws with an inclusive heart – featuring children of all colors and sizes, children wearing eyeglasses, children who are deaf...

The word compendium popped into my mind while reading "Ah, Music!"
Since I had to look it up to be sure it fit as I felt it did, here's the definition:
com·pen·di·um
kəmˈpendēəm
noun
a collection of concise but detailed information about a particular subject, especially in a book or other publication.
synonyms: collection, compilation, anthology, treasury, digest; More
a collection of things, especially one systematically gathered.
"the program is a compendium of outtakes from our archives"
Aliki has systematically and lovingly created an essential compendium of music for children.

[Lynnette · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Christian, I'd be careful of this book for kids because it naturally has a worldly perspective such as cavemen. But, what an excellent overview of music! I fancy myself to be a big picture person so I loved the approach. The only reason it doesn't have five stars is because I teach from a Christian worldview.

[Abby Curtis]

The informative book Ah, Music is paired greatly with Our Marching Band by Lloyd Moss. Both these books describe music and different instruments that you can play. They show how music is all around us and comes in different forms. These books are 3rd -5th grade level. The Fiction book Our Marching Band might be a slightly lower grade level.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly comprehensive yet efficient book. It explains and illustrates what music is, including its different parts. It explains what music is for. How music is written. Different genres of music. Different composers. Bands, orchestras, singers, dancers. It discusses the different ways that music is used in different cultures around the world and across time. And it explains to young musicians what practicing their musical instrument is like and why they should keep at it even when it’s hard.

The book is too long and advanced for very young readers, but they can still benefit from it in small doses with a loving adult to help them understand what is being said. The illustrations are fun and useful. Older elementary-aged kids who are interested in music will still find the information in this book useful and accessible. This book loves music so much that you can hardly spend a minute with it without itching to go listen to some of the songs and composers illustrated on the page.

[Addy Wooldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book and how informative it was. It was organized well, had a lot of different information over music, and had great illustrations on every page to go along with the text and provide more information to the overall information. This book would be great for a classroom setting where you were covering a lesson over music or were in a music class going over information. I definitely recommend this book to everyone, even if you don't love music that much. It is a very sweet book.

[Jeanie Cullip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything that you would like to know about music, an introduction to the sound, the rhythm, and much more. This nonfiction, informational picture book Ah, Music! is about composers and instruments. It’s about artists and performers. It’s about history—from the earliest music through classical, modern, jazz, and popular times. It’s about diversity and pleasure.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great overview about music. For my early childhood storytime, we did not read most of the book. We read highlights which is a great opportunity to talk about book magic. You don't have to read all of it, you can come back to it, and you can read parts of it. Overall, we "read" pages 6-13, 24-27, 44-48.

2025 storytime theme: Aliki

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This non-fiction book has lovely illustrations, plenty of good information about music, and great text features for teaching points. Not a single one of the students I work with complained about the book. That's high praise from struggling 7 and 8 year olds.

[Kfiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the diversity shown in the drawings.

[Nahuatl P Vargas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hermoso muy libro, muy útil para iniciar a los niños en el tema de la música, aborda varios temas relevantes.

[Chykela Grimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book talks about the ins and outs of music. Including all but not limited to instruments, artists,
performers, the diversity of music, and the different genres.

[Danielle Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diversity, Harmony, Inclusion, Soul.

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

education, music, instruments, composers, instrument players, performances

[Terra McCown]

Music, Diversity, Kids

TEKS: (1) Foundations: music literacy. The student describes and analyzes musical sound. The student is expected to:

(A) categorize and explain a variety of musical sounds, including those of children and adult voices;

(B) categorize and explain a variety of musical sounds, including those of woodwind, brass, string, percussion, and instruments from various cultures;

[Deanna Sutter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers a broad range of musical topics. Pitch, rhythm, melody, instruments, history of, and famous composers and types of music to name a few things. I learned a lot. It might have been just a little to long for my kids though. I probably should have read it in two sittings or not after I'd read to them for two hours already. Hmmm? (ya think?)

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Truly is an A to Z book on Music. It is very informative. GREAT for a music class of Later Elementary school kids. Tons of info. Great pictures, fun vibe! Totally worth reading but take it in sips not gulps!

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A super resource for teaching a child about music.
Wide in scope.

[Libraryrabbit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Autographed copy by author

[Iluvnamie! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to intro kids to music theory 101. My 6 year old who had a year of formal training could better understand what he has learnt and it helped me to explain some concepts. Thank you Aliki!

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this book, not sure how to use it in class though

[Madison Strasburg]

picture book
This was kind of an informational text as well. kind of boring

[Amy Lombardi]

§117.106. Music, Grade 1, Adopted 2013.

(5) Historical and cultural relevance. The student examines music in relation to history and cultures. The student is expected to:

(A) sing songs and play musical games, including rhymes, patriotic events, folk music, and seasonal music;

(B) identify steady beat in short musical excerpts from various periods or times in history and diverse cultures; and

(C) identify simple interdisciplinary concepts relating to music.