Beethoven's Wig [With CD]

I bought this for my daughter who teaches in an inner-city school in D.C. Her kids love this and talk about music and composers they would never have been exposed to. One of her first graders came in from lunch one day and said, "Ms. G, I absolutely love Beethoven!"

You'll never feel the same about these songs again, so purists might want to resist the urge to listen to them. Disappointingly, the book contains illustrations and lyrics only for the first of the three songs contained on the CD. The words to Beethoven's 5th Symphony tell the story of a "very big" wig, using many different adjectives to describe its size, which you might not be able to get out of your head. The same goes for the other two: Minuet in G, "Here's a lovely little minuet, for my pet [a horse], Juliet;" and my favorite, Moonlight Sonata (The Beep Song), about a commuter stuck in traffic jam who hears a beep from another motorist. He lets it go. But the honking persists and the commuter provides hilarious ongoing commentary on the situation. Although the lyrics are wonderfully addictive, the book itself is nothing to get excited about. The illustrations are good, but the pages must be turned at light speed to keep up with the song. One wonders why he didn't put more words on each page, which would enable the listener to follow along at a comfortable rate. The CD consists of only three selections (two versions of each); with lyrics, then without. Beethoven's Wig is a cute book with clever lyrics and a ridiculously short CD. Also good: Art Songs: Ten Songs about Artists by Agnes and Aubrey--unique, fact-filled, fun songs about famous artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Jason Pollock, and Frieda Khalo (appropriate for ages ten and up); Do Re Mi: If You Can Read Music, Thank Guido d'Arezzo by Susan L. Roth; and When Pigasso Met Mootisse by Nina Laden.

I should have given this 3 stars, but made a mistake and couldn't change it! Don't need the book - the CDs are great (at least #3 is for sure and #2 is growing on us). The book, while cute and funny, was purchased after we bought Beethoven's Wig #3, and it is OK. #3, however, is absolutely a must-have - it is hilarious and the music is beautifully done. My kids love the instrumental pieces as much as the sing-along versions. We then bought #1 (which we have not heard - we gave it as a gift) and #2, which is good but not from the start like #3.

The first book of the Read Along Symphony series (which is in turn based on the award-winning Sing Along Symphonies music series), Beethoven's Wig is a children's picturebook that combines humor with a love of music. The whimsical story about Beethoven's gigantic and growing white wig is meant to be sung along with the notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Zany illustrations of the catastrophically titanic wig and a bonus CD with "Beethoven's Wig" and two previously unreleased songs, all in both vocal and instrumental versions, round out this picturebook treasury. An excellent introduction to the fun of classical music for young people.

Given the remarkable success of the Grammy-nominated Beethoven's Wig CDs, it's not surprising that the new children's book by the same name would be captivating, clever, and the very best in educational fun. The colorful, whimsical illustrations are wholly original in style, and the horizontal large-page format is perfect for communicating that Beethoven's wig is indeed VERY BIG -- along with too many entertaining images, wordplays, and sight gags to describe. The accompanying audio CD, which includes the original title song based on Beethoven's famous 5th symphony, also includes delightful new songs based on the famous composer's Minuet in G and Moonlight Sonata. The latter, called "Beep Beep Beep" -- and one of Beethoven's Wig performer and lyricist Richard Perlmutter's wittiest works to date (which is really saying something, as you know if you've already heard his two previous award-winning Beethoven's Wig CDs) -- is truly hysterical. Storytelling at its best. As with earlier discs, the symphonic versions of these great compositions (without the lyrics) are also included as part of Perlmutter's very successful strategy for educating young children about the joys of classical music. Whether you're new to Beethoven's Wig, or already one of the millions of enthusiastic fans, this book and disc combination is highly recommended.