From: Rosanne Parry <rosanneparry_at_comcast.net>
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:36:58 -0700

Two years ago I toured with a group of MG and YA authors who write books about the performing arts. The group was organized by Stacia Ward Kehoe and the website is here: http://www.stagesonpages.com. It has many examples of books about the performing arts.

Something to keep in mind when you are looking for book programing for your school or library is that many authors are also musicians. The Stages on Pages tour had authors preforming for and alongside young audiences. Last week I did a music and poetry event for The Dalles school district in Oregon. Probably my favorite book event ever is one organized by Liz Rusch to celebrate her For the Love of Music, Virginia Euwer Wolff's Mozart Season and my Second Fiddle. We had a whole afternoon of interactive musical fun for kids. Liz got a young pianist to play minuets from "Nannerl's Notebook", pieces composed by Leopold Mozart for his daughter. The minuets were interspersed between Liz reading sections of the book. I played duets with a child I know and brought in the Portland Symphonic Girlchoir to sing and talk about the joy of girls making music together. Virginia is an accomplished chamber music player. She brought her string trio and played some of her favorite Mozart pieces. The local music school brought a
 "petting zoo" of musical instruments for children to try and we had information about every major musical organization in Portland for parents to look at. What a pleasure to spend a book event chatting with people about what makes a good music teacher or musical ensemble rather than the ins and outs of the publishing business.

If you are looking for a dynamic literacy program, do consider combining it with a musical program or using it to highlight the importance of the arts in your schools and public life.

Rosanne Parry WRITTEN IN STONE, 2013 SECOND FIDDLE, 2011 HEART OF A SHEPHERD, 2009 www.rosanneparry.com
Received on Tue 23 Apr 2013 09:36:58 AM CDT