Explorando la Literatura

Vivir y Amar la Música

Music feeds the body, the brain, and the soul. Music is social; it brings us together and sets us apart. Without music, life would certainly be more drab, cultures less rich, our stepping out less lively, and our spirituality diminished.

From birth, children listen intently to melody and rhythm, and respond with movement and sound. They naturally sway and dance, hum, sing, rap, and tap. Music expands the mind and helps children learn to communicate and read.

Which toddler doesn’t wiggle in pleasure to “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” and what parent doesn’t share the pleasure? It is hard not to tap toes and rap out a beat as Bill Bojangles Robinson slides and taps onto the next page in Rap a Tap Tap.

Children need music and musical heroes, and books can provide both. Artists from Bojangles to Barishnikov, Emmy Lou Harris to Eminem, Marian Anderson to Mary J. Blige make music come alive. Books can add illustrations to beautiful songs and bring the lives of musicians to children to fuel imagination and ambitions. It is up to us to encourage children to embrace music without the self-consciousness or narrow limits that slip into adult sensibilities.

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