More Resources for Children: Classical Kids Series

Beethoven Lives Upstairs
Hallelujah Handel!
Mozart’s Magic Fantasy
Mozart’s Magnificent Voyage
Mr. Bach Comes to Call
Tchaikovsky Discovers America
Vivaldi’s Ring of Mystery
Song of the Unicorn

These CDs are a great introduction to each composer’s music. They are fictional stories based on the composers’ lives; each one features a child who makes friends with a composer and learns about their life and music. I think the historical and fantasy elements are woven together nicely, and they introduce a lot of music that kids will likely recognize and identify years later. It’s so fun when one of mine hears something and lights up with recognition: “Beethoven!” “Mozart!” I’ve really enjoyed using these with my kids.

My biggest criticism of these is that sometimes the quality of the recordings leaves something to be desired. Intonation is an issue on some of the CDs. (I can’t help it, my musician side doesn’t like kids getting used to hearing things out of tune.) That said, if they are listening to lots of good music it shouldn’t be too big a deal to hear things out of tune once in a while—that’s just part of life.