The Drums of Noto Hanto

If you teach music, drumming, or multi-cultural lessons at an elementary level, you will adore this book. I borrowed it from the library because it was a story from Japan and found that I could use it as a music lesson. And the story is a good one with lots of teaching moments. Then of course I had to buy it because I'll use it every year. Loved it!

This book BEGS to be read aloud. If you love to make loud, interesting noises while you read to your child, you will love this book - if not, you won't like it. It's the story of an ancient village that was to be attacked by an army of samurai warriors, and how they worked together to ward off the threat. The loud noises come about because the villagers have quite a love of drums - drums of many kinds, and the noises of each drum are woven throughout the book. "Don kada-ka, Don kada-ka, don-da, Don-Da, Don-Da, DON!" Very exciting! The book is also illustrated with cut paper designs - the incredible detail is inspiring to those of us who use die-cuts in our scrapbooks.