Tiny Owl Music & Storytelling campaign continues

Music is one of most emotional and enduring forms of storytelling; early cultures often share their stories through music. With the launch of our brand new series called Children. Music. Life, of which the first book of the series, The Drum, is coming out soon, we have started a campaign to explore the relationship between children, music and stories. You can keep up to date by searching for #TinyOwlDrum and #ChildrenMusicLife.

We contacted experts in all kinds of areas such as parents, illustrators, teachers, and librarians, and asked them:

What do you think about the role of music in children’s lives and its relationship to stories? 
What song do you remember from your childhood?

Here are two more responses, from James Mayhew and Lorna Gutierrez.

• Find previous responses to our questions here.

 

James Mayhew:

Music reaches children in all cultures to tell potent stories

Music is in all of us! We are born with rhythm and pattern in our brains. Music elevates our joys and underpins our sadnesses. It is a universal language, reaching children in all cultures to tell potent stories, of history, fairy tale and legend!

As a child I fell in love with Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade”, which led me to her stories and lifelong love of both music and fairy tales.

James Mayhew is a UK based author/illustrator who has been sharing stories, art and classical music with kids for 30 years.

 

Lorna Gutierrez:

Music and story are both strong foundations of childhood

Music often invokes memories in adults but, as children, it’s where many of the memories get cemented. It can be a way of learning the ways of the world. It can also be a way of coping with the ways of the world. Music strikes different “chords”, depending on the individual. But, almost always, if it’s being listened to, it’s being enjoyed. A song is a story. A book is a story. And they’re both strong foundations of childhood.

My mother was/is a local singer and songwriter, so music was a huge form of communication in my house growing up. I made my allowance if I could guess the name of a song and its artist on the radio. I was exposed to tons of music, but the song “Shopping”, by the Pet Shop Boys, sticks in my head. If we were singing it, we were going shopping. (And that was a good thing!)

Lorna Gutierrez is the author of our upcoming book Dare,  and lives in Colorado. 

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