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The latest installment in beloved music educator Carolyn Sloan’s Welcome to Music interactive book series has been released: Welcome to the Opera (October 2023; Ages 4–8; $29.99).
With interactive sound technology and vibrant, full-color illustrations, Welcome to the Opera brings the wonders of Mozart’s The Magic Flute to life.
With the push of 12 sound chips on the side panel of the book, readers will become immersed in the music as they read about key concepts found in the genre, like:
Overture: music that plays at the beginning of an opera before any characters appear onstage, usually weaving together a small part of each melody featured in the opera
Voice types like tenor, bass, and soprano, and how they help the audience tell characters apart
Aria – a vocal solo sung by a character to express their deepest feelings to the audience.
Normally we shun sound books in our home. Stereotypically they have a tendency to become obnoxious and too much in a short amount of time. Welcome to the Opera has been the complete opposite experience. We, as a family, have even recently requested information from the Lyric Opera of Chicago about upcoming opportunities to attend as a family because of this book. A whole new world of music has opened to us indeed. Thank you for the sample book and for opening up the world of opera to us, Workman Publishing.
Welcome to the Opera by Carolyn Sloan and illustrated by Kaly Quarles is the perfect educational and playful gift for every child and serves as a wonderful introduction to the art form and the creativity it inspires. You can also read the other books in the Welcome to Music series if interested: Welcome to Jazz & Welcome to the Symphony.
Have you been to the opera? What has your experience been like? Have you read any of the books in the Welcome to Music series? Let me know in the comments and on social.