Children's books and activities

Music and Musicians

Many kids love to sing, write songs, play music, and even create their own homemade instruments. And some children are curious about the lives of famous singers, songwriters, and musicians. We've gathered up a great collection of books, activities, apps, and websites for learning all about music and musicians.

Try pairing fiction with nonfiction books and exploring different genres (like poetry and biographies) and formats (like graphic novels and audio books). You'll be creating your own "text sets" — collections of texts focused on a specific topic, such as music and musicians. Reading widely in this way helps children build background knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.

You might also want to explore our free toolkit: Tune In!

Music and Musicians

Great Fiction & Nonfiction Books

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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A Neighborhood Walk, A Musical Journey book cover

A Neighborhood Walk, a Musical Journey

By:
Pilar Winter Hill
Illustrated by: Olivia Duchess

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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A Tisket, a Tasket

By:
Ella Fitzgerald
Illustrated by: Ora Eitan

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Bats in the Band

By:
Brian Lies

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane

By:
Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrated by: Sean Qualls

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Ben's Trumpet

By:
Rachel Isadora

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Bird & Diz

By:
Gary Gallo
Illustrated by: Ed Young

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Charlie Parker Played Be Bop

By:
Chris Raschka

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Dooby Dooby Moo

By:
Doreen Cronin
Illustrated by: Betsy Lewin

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Drum City

By:
Thea Guidone
Illustrated by: Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Ear Worm! picture book cover

Ear Worm!

By:
Jo Knowles
Illustrated by: Galia Bernstein

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist

By:
Susan Wood

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Every Little Thing

By:
Bob Marley
, Cedella Marley
Illustrated by: Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Forever Young

By:
Bob Dylan
Illustrated by: Paul Rogers

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Gus and Me: The Story of My Granddad and My First Guitar

By:
Keith Richards
Illustrated by: Theodora Richards

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Hip Cat

By:
Jonathan London

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Hip Hop Dog

By:
Chris Raschka
Illustrated by: Vladimir Radunsky

Age Level: 3-6 years old

I Got the Rhythm

By:
Connie Scholfield-Morrison
Illustrated by: Frank Morrison

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Jazz Baby

By:
Lisa Wheeler
Illustrated by: R. Gregory Christie

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Kenya's Song

By:
Linda Trice

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Let It Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals

By:
Ashley Bryan

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Let's Play!

By:
Gabriel Alborozo

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Little Pig Joins the Band

By:
David Hyde Costello

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Young and older rock and roll guitarist Rosetta Thorne

Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll

By:
Charnelle Pinkney Barlow

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Manuelo, the Playing Mantis

By:
Don Freeman

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Mole Music

By:
David McPhail

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Music, Music for Everyone

By:
Vera Williams

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Musical Instruments Series

By:
Xist Publishing

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Olivia Forms a Band

By:
Ian Falconer

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

One Love

By:
Cedella Marley
Illustrated by: Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Peter and the Wolf

By:
Chris Raschka
, Sergei Prokofiev

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum

By:
Robert Andrew Parker

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Punk Farm

By:
Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf

By:
Sergei Prokofiev

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Shake, Rattle & Turn That Noise Down!

By:
Mark Alan Stamaty

Age Level: 3-6 years old

The Orchestra Pit

By:
Johanna Wright

Age Level: 3-6 years old

This Jazz Man

By:
Karen Ehrhardt
Illustrated by: R.G. Roth

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

This Land is Your Land

By:
Woodie Guthrie

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Tito Puente, Mambo King

By:
Monica Brown
Illustrated by: Rafael López

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Uptown

By:
Bryan Collier

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson

By:
Pam Muñoz Ryan
Illustrated by: Brian Selznick

Age Level: 3-6 years old

""

Woody Guthrie: Poet of the People

By:
Bonnie Christensen

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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""

A Band of Angels

By:
Deborah Hopkinson
Illustrated by: Raul Colón

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

A Good Night for Ghosts

By:
Mary Pope Osborne

Age Level: 6-9 years old

A Likkle Miss Lou: How Jamaican Poet Louise Bennett Coverley Found Her Voice

By:
Nadia Hohn
Illustrated by: Eugenie Fernandes

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band

By:
Kwame Alexander

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay

By:
Susan Hood
Illustrated by: Sally Wern Comport

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Banjo Granny

By:
Sarah Martin Busse
, Jacqueline Martin

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Boys Dancing: From School Gym to Theater Stage

By:
George Ancona

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Bremen Town Musician

By:
Jacob Grimm

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Can You Hear It?

By:
William Lach

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Celia Cruz: Queen of Salsa

By:
Veronica Chambers

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Change Sings: A Children's Anthem

By:
Amanda Gorman
Illustrated by: Loren Long

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Dark Was the Night: Blind Willie Johnson's Journey to the Stars

By:
Gary Golio
Illustrated by: E.B. Lewis

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Dizzy

By:
Jonah Winter
Illustrated by: Sean Qualls

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Django: World's Greatest Jazz Guitarist

By:
Bonnie Christensen

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Drum Dream Girl: One Girl's Courage Changed Music

By:
Margarita Engle
Illustrated by: Rafael López

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite

By:
Anna Harwell Celenza
Illustrated by: Don Tate

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Elizabeth's Song

By:
Michael Wenberg

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa

By:
Andrea Pinkney
Illustrated by: Brian Pinkney

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Ellington Was Not a Street

By:
Kadir Nelson
, Ntozake Shange

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Elvis: The Story of the Rock and Roll King

By:
Bonnie Christensen

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist

By:
Susan Wood
Illustrated by: Duncan Tonatiuh

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Fab Four Friends

By:
Susanna Reich
Illustrated by: Adam Gustavson

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Finding the Music/En pos de la musica

By:
Jennifer Torres

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Flowers for Sarajevo

By:
John McCutcheon
Illustrated by: Kristy Caldwell

Age Level: 6-9 years old

For the Love of Music: The Remarkable Story of Maria Anna Mozart

By:
Elizabeth Rusch
, Steve Johnson
Illustrated by: Lou Fancher

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Freedom in Congo Square

By:
Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrated by: R. Gregory Christie

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin

By:
Chieri Uegaki
Illustrated by: Qin Leng

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Harlem

By:
Walter Dean Myers

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Harlem Renaissance Party

By:
Faith Ringgold

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Harlem's Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills

By:
Renee Watson
Illustrated by: Christian Robinson

Age Level: 6-9 years old

How Jelly Roll Morton Invented Jazz

By:
Jonah Winter

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

I Know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello

By:
Barbara Garriel
Illustrated by: John O'Brien

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Jasmine Toguchi, Drummer Girl

By:
Debbi Michiko Florence
Illustrated by: Elizabet Vukovic

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

John Coltrane's Giant Steps

By:
Chris Raschka

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Ketzel, the Cat Who Composed

By:
Leslea Newman

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century

By:
Carole Boston Weatherford

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotton

By:
Laura Veirs

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Listen to the Birds: An Introduction to Classical Music

By:
Ana Gerhard
Illustrated by: Cecilla Varela

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone

By:
Katheryn Russell-Brown
Illustrated by: Frank Morrison

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Little Rat Makes Music

By:
Monica Bang-Campbell

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

M Is for Music

By:
Kathleen Krull
Illustrated by: Stacey Innerst

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Mahalia Jackson: Walking with Kings and Queens

By:
Nina Nolan

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Max Found Two Sticks

By:
Brian Pinkney

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Moses Goes to a Concert

By:
Isaac Millman

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Mr. Putter and Tabby Toot the Horn

By:
Cynthia Rylant

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Music for Mr. Moon

By:
Erin Stead

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

My Name Is Celia/Me llamo Celia

By:
Monica Brown
Illustrated by: Rafael López

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Odetta: The Queen of Folk

By:
Stephen Alcorn

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Penny and Her Song

By:
Kevin Henkes

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum

By:
Robert Andrew Parker

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Play, Mozart, Play!

By:
Peter Sís

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Rock and roll guitarist Rosetta Thorne

Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll! Presenting Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock & Roll

By:
Tonya Bolden
Illustrated by: R.Gregory Christie

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Roly-Polies book cover

Roly-Polies

By:
Mónica Carretero
Illustrated by: Jon Brokenbrow

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Simple Gifts

By:
Chris Raschka

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald

By:
Eileen L. Ordover
Illustrated by: Sean Qualls

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Young Black girl who is blind listening for sounds in the busy city

Song in the City

By:
Daniel Bernstrom

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Sweet Music in Harlem

By:
Debbie Taylor

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Swing Sisters: The Story of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm

By:
Karen Deans
Illustrated by: Joe Cepeda

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Teach Your Buffalo to Play Drums

By:
Audrey Vernick
Illustrated by: Daniel Jennewein

Age Level: 6-9 years old

The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny)

By:
Kathleen Krull

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

The Cardboard Piano

By:
Lynne Rae Perkins

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Drawing of animals in a parade with a boy on an elephant's head

The Carnival of the Animals

By:
Jack Prelutsky
Illustrated by: Mary GrandPre

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

The Composer Is Dead

By:
Lemony Snicket
Illustrated by: Carson Ellis

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

The Deaf Musicians

By:
Pete Seeger
, Paul Dubois Jacobs
Illustrated by: R. Gregory Christie

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

The First Flute

By:
David Bouchard
, Jan Reibach

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

The Golden Thread: A Song for Pete Seeger

By:
Colin Meloy
Illustrated by: Nikki McClure

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

The Little Piano Girl

By:
Ann Ingalls
, Maryann Macdonald
Illustrated by: Giselle Potter

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

The Piano

By:
William Miller

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

The Shoe Bird

By:
Barbara M. Joosse

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Trombone Shorty

By:
Trou "Trombone Shorty" Andrews

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Tuba Lessons

By:
T.C. Bartlett
Illustrated by: Monique Felix

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Ukulele Hayley

Ukulele Hayley

By:
Judy Cox
Illustrated by: Amanda Haley

Age Level: 6-9 years old

When Bob Met Woody: The Story of the Young Bob Dylan book cover

When Bob Met Woody: The Story of the Young Bob Dylan

By:
Gary Gallo
Illustrated by: Marc Burckhardt

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

When Grandmama Sings

By:
Margaree King Mitchell

Age Level: 6-9 years old

When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky

By:
Lauren Stringer

Age Level: 6-9 years old

When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop

By:
Laban Carrick Hill

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Yellow Dog Blues

Yellow Dog Blues

By:
Alice Faye Duncan
Illustrated by: Chris Raschka

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin

By:
Lloyd Moss
Illustrated by: Marjorie Princeman

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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""

All Summer Long

By:
Hope Larson

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Amina's Voice

By:
Hena Khan

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Audition & Subtraction

By:
Amy Fellner Dominy

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Better Nate Than Ever

By:
Tim Federle

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Blackbird Fly

By:
Erin Entrada Kelly

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Blues Journey

By:
Walter Dean Myers

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground

By:
Rita Williams-Garcia

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Dreambender

By:
Ronald Kidd

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Echo

By:
Pam Muñoz Ryan

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Firebird

By:
Misty Copeland
Illustrated by: Christopher Myers

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Great American Mousical

By:
Emma Walton Hamilton
Illustrated by: Tony Walton

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Guitar Notes

By:
Mary Amato

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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High-Tech DIY Projects with Musical Instruments

By:
Maggie Murphy

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

I Am Drums

By:
Mike Grosso

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

I Heart Band Series

By:
Michelle Schusterman

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Jazz

By:
Walter Dean Myers

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph

By:
Roxanne Orgill
Illustrated by: Francis Vallejo

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker

By:
Patricia Hruby Powell

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies

By:
Julie Andrews
, Emma Walton Hamilton
Illustrated by: Jim McMullan

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Learn to Speak Music

By:
John Crossingham
Illustrated by: Jeff Kulak

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Legends, Icons & Rebels: Music That Changed the World

By:
Robbie Robertson

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Let Your Voice Be Heard: The Life and Times of Pete Seeger

By:
Anita Silvey

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Lives of the Musicians: Good Times, Bad Times (and What the Neighbors Thought)

By:
Kathleen Krull

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Maker Projects for Kids Who Love Music

By:
Rebecca Sjonger

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Red Bird Sings: The Story of Zitkala-Ša, Native American Author, Musician, and Activist

By:
Gina Capaldi
, Q.L. Pearce

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip Through the Motown Sound

By:
Andrea Davis Pinkney

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music!

By:
Robert Levine
Illustrated by: Meredith Hamilton

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

The First Rule of Punk

By:
Celia C. Pérez

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

The Flute

By:
Rachna Gilmore
Illustrated by: Pulak Biswas

Age Level: 9-12 years old

The Music in George’s Head: George Gershwin Creates Rhapsody in Blue

By:
Suzanne Slade

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

The Rising Star of Rusty Nail

By:
Lesley M. Blume

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman

By:
Ben H. Winters

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

The Sweetest Sound

By:
Sherri Winston

Age Level: 9-12 years old

The Voice That Challenged a Nation

By:
Russell Freedman

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

What Is Rock and Roll?

By:
Jim O'Connor
Illustrated by: Gregory Copeland

Age Level: 9-12 years old