by Brenda A. McGee ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 8, 2014
A collection of successfully arranged religious piano music that could have featured a little less blood.
A debut collection of spiritual piano music for children.
McGee, a composer and pianist, shares the purpose of this book of hymns and African-American spirituals in a short introduction: “I pray for a release of God’s love through these songs for the children, the teachers who teach these songs to their students, to the parents of the children, and to all who hear these sacred songs.” Her message is clear in her choice of songs that she arranged for this collection, all written by other musicians, such as “Count Your Blessings” by Edwin O. Excell with lyrics by Johnson Oatman Jr. (“When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, count your many blessings name them one by one”) and “Lord I’m Coming Home” by William J. Kirkpatrick (“I’ve wandered far away from God. Now I’m coming home”). The book, aimed at 5- to 8-year-old students, includes simple pieces, played one hand at a time, with mostly fixed hand placement and at least one fingering indicator per measure. In addition, there are no large leaps between keys, and most intervals are either steps or skips. In McGee’s arrangement of the Christmas carol “Angels We Have Heard on High,” for instance, she deftly moves a G up an octave to accommodate the fixed hand position. She also gives helpful instruction in her “Teachers Notes” at the book’s beginning. McGee’s talent shines through in her easy arrangements of traditional hymns, such as “I’ve Got Peace like a River,” in which the entire song is played between the same six notes on the treble clef. Unfortunately, the lyrics to many songs here, such as “There is a Fountain” by William Cowper (“There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains”) and “Nothing but the Blood” by Robert Lowry (“What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus….Oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow”) feature imagery that may be too scary for children.
A collection of successfully arranged religious piano music that could have featured a little less blood.Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4908-4704-7
Page Count: 62
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 27, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by William Strunk & E.B. White ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 1972
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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