The Magnificent I Can Read Music Book

Phew! A breathless introduction to the rudiments of musical theory covering everything you can think of in a page or so each, frantically presented with flaps, moving parts, pop-ups, speech bubbles and exclamation marks. There is far too much information to absorb at the speed with which it is presented - my children were left cold and no-one even went back to try out the electronic piano (with renewable batteries) in the back of the book. Unfortunately, what this book fails to grasp is that though it looks fun, this approach is ultimately frustrating because, in truth, you cannot learn much about music at breakneck speed, and without lots of practice. Of course, children with basic knowledge already might enjoy a romp through the book. The book is visually confusing and hard to follow - a pity, as some of the paper engineering is excellent. In fact, there are some great ideas for teaching musical concepts in the classroom - but out of this frantic context!