Do Re Mi: If you can read music, thank Guido d’Arezzo by Susan L. Roth in association with Angelo Mafucci.

The fascinating story of d’Arezzo’s quest to create a way to write music is captured effectively in this picture book.  The book follows his life as he tries to persuade people to even consider that music can be written down.  Though he meets with disdain and failure again and again, d’Arezzo does not give up and finally finds a way to write music that is still used today.

Text in picture book biographies can often be too lengthy.  That is not the case here.  Roth has provided accessible text about a complicated story that tells children just enough without overpowering them with excessive details.  Combine that with the collage illustrations that capture the landscape, the struggle and the epiphany, and you have a very child-friendly biography.

I encourage music teachers to use this with elementary age children.  Any child taking piano lessons or other music lessons where they learn to read music will be fascinated to learn that writing music has not always existed.