cover image The Living Violin: A Complete Guide to Listening, Learning, and Playing

The Living Violin: A Complete Guide to Listening, Learning, and Playing

Barrie Turner. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, $25 (48pp) ISBN 978-0-679-88177-3

Music, music, music Adroitly uniting book and CD, Barrie Carson Turner's Living Music series introduces four instruments frequently played by school-age children; titles include The Living Piano; The Living Clarinet; The Living Flute; and The Living Violin. Each book provides background on the instrument's history and how it is made and played, biographies of 10 composers, a brief gallery of great musicians and an index. The accompanying full-length CD from EMI features the same composers, in the same order. The handsome design features plentiful color photographs and art reproductions inset into muted backgrounds of sheet music.