Dan Zanes' house party A family roots music treasury

Folk musician Zanes collaborates with his wife, jazz vocalist Claudia Eliaza, for a broad-ranging, thematically organized musical anthology of 64 songs from folk traditions. Each song includes its complete verses and simple musical notation, and the end pages offer chord diagrams for guitar and ukulele. Saaf enhances the collection through gentle watercolor art featuring doll-like human and animal figures. In friendly, thoughtful prose, Zanes shares the origins of each song, its meaning, and the traditions from which it arises: "This train song began its life as an African American spiritual and, over the years, has become one of the classic songs used by early-childhood educators." He also shares personal thoughts about the songs he chooses to sing, as well as the impact of learning their history. Zanes's compendium is a rich, multicultural celebration of musical roots that invites readers to become music-makers themselves. Ages 8-up. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Music Notation by Claudia Eliaza and Billy Buss. This collection of sixty-four songs--including traditional shanties, hymns, folk songs, and original tunes by Zane--targets music-savvy educators and caregivers. The songs, from many cultures and languages, shine amid Zane's lengthy, sentimental notes about song origins, musicians, and instruments. The childlike folk art features children with a diversity of skin tones. Musical notation includes chords and melody line; guitar and ukulele chord charts also provided. Ind. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.