Children's Literature "in Concert"

My friend Amy sent me a nice treat last week, a link to this video of the Salastina Music Society and Seth Rogen performing "Ferdinand the Bull," composed by Alan Ridout, and arranged by Maia Jasper.

I grew up with Munro Leaf's The Story of Ferdinand, and I was familiar with Ridout's original version for solo violin and narrator because of a CD we have by Steven Bjella, titled, "Ferdinand and Friends." But after a little snooping around I found this CD, as well:  Ferdinand the Bull and Friends, which features not only "The Story of Ferdinand," but also Camille Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals" (there are even accompanying CD-sized cards with illustrations on the front by Devin Bernard and Ogden Nash's poems for "Carnival" on the back.) What a find!

But did you know that there are other children's books that have been taken to the concert hall? There is a concerto for violin, narrator, and orchestra based on Margaret Wise Brown's The Runaway Bunny. The CD also features "Tubby the Tuba" and "Paddington Bear's First Concert."

Then there's Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant with muic by Dan Goeller:



 I don't have any recordings to refer you to, but I also discovered that composer Lorin Maazel has written pieces for narrator and orchestra based on The Empty Pot and The Giving Tree.




Do you find all that as exciting as I do?