I love music themed storybooks. I have them available in my studio for students to read while they are waiting for their lesson or occasionally during some down time during a siblings lesson. They love to read them too. I’m excited to tell you about a brand new book published by Hal Leonard, authored by Thornton Cline and Illustrated by Susan Oliver. (See bio’s below)
The Amazing Incredible Shrinking Piano is a delightful story about an adventurous girl named Lily. Her grandmother no longer had room for her piano, so she wanted to give it to Lily. Lily soon began piano lessons but would get frustrated when she made mistakes. In turn, she would take it out on the piano, treating her new instrument unkindly. I won’t spoil the rest of the story for you, but this was a wonderful story that had a great message teaching respect for our instruments and controlling anger.
Thornton shared on his blog, “According to a recent Harris poll of 2,250 adults, respect for teachers dropped from 70% to a meager 31%. It is unfortunate that many kids today do not show respect to their teachers and to property. You can see that there are some serious anger issues in kids that teachers and parents must deal with.”
As we know books are a great tool to teach lessons to children. The Amazing Incredible Shrinking Piano is a perfect resource to use. Regardless if you have students with disrespect or anger issues, the book is a delight to own and share with students.
The Amazing Incredible Shrinking Piano includes 10 original pieces composed by Thornton found in the back of the book that goes along with the story. In addition it includes a CD which has narrations of the story and both with solos and a children’s choir singing the music. The recordings are wonderful and can be enjoyed just on their own. So many possibilities open up to teachers with these included! It would make for a great classroom, group or camp lesson to incorporate both story and songs!
You can find The Amazing Incredible Shrinking Piano on Amazon. (affiliate link)
Thornton Cline Bio:
Thornton Cline is author of five books: Band of Angels, Practice Personalities: What’s Your Type?, Practice Personalities for Adults, The Amazing Incredible Shrinking Violin and Cline’s second children’s book, The Amazing Incredible Shrinking Piano. Thornton Cline has been honored with Songwriter of the Year twice in a row by the Tennessee Songwriters Association for his hit song “Love is the Reason” recorded by Engelbert Humperdinck and Gloria Gaynor. Cline has received Dove Award nominations and a Grammy nomination for music educator. Thornton Cline is an in-demand author, teacher, speaker, clinician, performer and songwriter. He is a registered Suzuki violin teacher the Suzuki Association of Americas. Cline teachers piano, guitar, and violin at Cumberland University, Sumner Academy, Aaron Academy, Hendersonville Christian
Academy, and at the Gallatin Creative Arts Center. He lives in Hendersonville, Tennessee with his wife Audrey and two children Mollie and Alex. You can find Thornton Cline on his Website, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Susan Oliver Bio:
Susan Oliver is an award winning songwriter and visual artist as well as illustrator. She is originally from Orono, Maine and attended the University of Maine as well as Portland School of Art. Known for her wide variety of styles, Susan has exhibited her artwork and also worked as a graphic designer. Her painting, “Moonlight Seals” gained national attention in efforts to raise funds for Marine Animal Lifeline, an organization dedicated to seal rescue and rehabilitation. Susan now resides outside of Nashville, Tennessee where she continues to write music and design art work for album covers for various musical artists, as well as illustrates children’s books. The Amazing Incredible Shrinking Piano is Oliver’s second children’s book published as an illustrator. She is illustrator of The Amazing Incredible Shrinking Violin.
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This sounds like a wonderful book! I would love to get a copy to share, especially with my five grandchildren. I certainly wish there were more books like this.
I love the original compositions that come with the book. the CD I could share with my students. This will be a great resource to share with my young students
Where did you hear the music? I don’t find a link for it.
There isn’t a link to hear the music (though that may be a good idea to have samples available somewhere…). The CD with the audio music (plus sheet music) is included in the book itself.
I found audio on the Hal Leonard website.
Oh nice! Thanks Christine!
I love adding new books like these to my library. My home-schoolers especially eat them up! I am following him on Twitter!
Sounds like a very interesting book. Thanks for telling us about it, Jennifer!
Oh, this looks fun. Would love a chance for a studio copy.
What a cute book! thank you for sharing. would love to win a signed copy for sure!
This sounds like it would be an awesome addition to my library!
Liked the author’s Facebook page. This book sounds great — can’t wait to get it in my studio! I’m always on the lookout for music-themed storybooks, as well. Do you happen to have a reading list? Thanks! 🙂
Many students sibling pairs would *love* to listen to this delightful musical book while they wait for their lesson! Beautifully and excellently made!
Oh, awesome! I can see we will be reading this at group lessons soon and adding it to our studio library. Thanks, Jennifer, for finding all these cool resources!
Sounds like a wonderful book to share with my piano families. Thanks for sharing!
This sounds like a great idea for group lessons. Thank you for alerting us to this new resource.
This looks fun!! Thanks for highlighting it – I don’t often hear about books like this!
I also have a small collection of books about pianos and music in my waiting area — this would be a great addition!
Looks like a cute book for my lending library
This sounds awesome. It would make a great addition to the waiting room and for extra assignments.
This is a waiting room book! Would love to win it and show it off!
This book looks wonderful! My students love reading books that involve a musical plot while they wait for lessons!
Would love to have for waiting room
Thanks so much Jennifer for the opportunity !!
Lovely book! I have a student that bangs the piano regularly and this will be perfect to read to her! I’d love to have this book.
Looks like a great book! What a wonderful giveaway!
This sounds and looks like it is a great book. I teach piano lessons, as does one daughter and son. Also, some of my grandchildren take lessons.
Great review! Excited to see and share.
My grandson will soon be old enough to begin piano lessons. What a great book to share with him!!!
This looks so neat!
This looks great for a preschool group lesson!
This book looks like a great resource!
Oh, I would love to have this for my studio.