Opal Wheeler

Originally published in a homeschool support group newsletter in May 2008.

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As a homeschooling mom, I often struggle to get through all the basics, let alone make time to cover the finer things in life such as music appreciation. Yet, I believe knowledge about the arts is an important part of education. Listening to classical music helps children gain familiarity with the melodies of the great composers, but the stories behind the music make them more memorable. The composer series by Opal Wheeler brings these composers and their world to life through narratives attractive to children.

"Sebastian Bach: The Boy from Thuringia" (originally published in 1937) contains five long chapters and is illustrated with black-and-white ink drawings. Interspersed in the story are short music selections that provide a sample of this composer's work.

The story opens with Bach's early childhood and his family life. Here we learn about the fun, musical Bach family, the early appearance of his musical genius, and the tragedy of Johann Sebastian Bach's becoming an orphan at a young age and having to live with his strict older brother Christoph. Ever seeking to improve his talents, Bach walked long distances to find teachers to help him improve his skills. Then, as a professional musician and composer, Bach worked for various churches and noblemen. The book ends with more about his family life. The light, enjoyable writing, unfortunately, leaves out Bach's strong faith.

The Study Guide provides a map of the places Bach lived and traveled to. Each chapter has a timeline, Reading Comprehension Questions with answers, a description of Character Qualities, and Tidbits of Interest. The Character Qualities seek to demonstrate Bach's good character that readers can emulate. However, in chapter one, under “Industriousness,” the author praises Bach's willingness to lose sleep in order to copy his brother's music book. Christoph had denied Sebastian access to his music books, yet the study-guide author overlooks this act of willful disobedience by Sebastian Bach.

The Tidbits of Interest contain notes that further explain the people, places, musical instruments and styles, and events in Bach's life, with page numbers referencing the storybook. One chapter even offers a recipe for German Rye Bread. This section intrigued me but failed to appeal to my nine-year-old son.

Each compact disc contains the music of two composers. The Bach CD also has Mozart's music. They also include PDF coloring pages (some of the illustrations from the book) and printable sheet music so that you can play the music yourself.

I read one chapter a week to my son, stopping to play a sample of a piece of music as it appeared in the book. I would run my finger along the printed music in the book so my son could see and hear the music at the same time.

If you need an easy way to introduce your child to classical music and the composers, give this series a try.

Other composers in the series include
Mozart: The Wonder Boy
Handel at the Court of Kings
Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells
Joseph Haydn: The Merry Little Peasant
Frederic Chopin, Son of Poland, Early Years
The Young Brahms
Franz Schubert and His Merry Friends
Robert Schumann and Mascot Ziff… (mere)

We're sober men and true. We sail the ocean blue.

The next best thing to seeing a staged production. Easy piano reductions of the most popular tunes, abundant and faultless illustrations, and a narrative that is sober and true to its original.

The omissions in the interest of brevity were well-judged, although I personally would have liked to have retained "if you please" and the Captain's single and swiftly punished lapse into swearing.

Greatly enjoyed by my daughters. I just hope they won't end up signing on with a naval recruiter. If it happens, I can remind them: Stick close to your desks and never go to sea!… (mere)