Maestro Classics-Peter and the Wolf

I guess I’m going to show my age a bit, but I have to say that I remember listening to Peter and the Wolf on a record-yes, a 33 1/3 vinyl album when I was a young girl. :o) It even came with a book-like part, so you could follow along with pictures. I loved it! And, now, thanks to Maestro Classics, http://maestroclassics.com/,  my children have been able to hear and enjoy Peter and the Wolf in a much more modern way.

Peter and the Wolf is from the Stories In Music Series: to quote from the website:  “Composer Stephen Simon and art director/music educator par excellence Bonnie Ward Simon combine children’s classics with classical music, illustrating a familiar story with music.”

This CD is much more than the delightful story most of us know and love. After the first track introduces the characters/instruments, and the second track plays the entire story, the third through seventh tracks contain information about the background of the story and composer, and great insights into the music itself.  I like the set up of the tracks: get someone interested in/hooked on the story, and then give them more information and details to teach them even more. 

This CD also comes with a 24 page booklet that allows the children to do various activities to reinforce their learning, and those are done in lovely graphics/colors, and were interesting as well. One of our thoughts as crew members was that we would have loved to have a booklet per child-they enjoyed them so much it was hard to share. :o)

This set sells alone for $16.98 or it is part of a 3 CD set which sells for $45. You can check out their other products here: http://www.maestroclassics.com/all-products.aspx and, you can   Click here to hear samples.

The creators recommend these products for ages 5 and up-even through adults, but I personally don’t see why the main story parts couldn’t be played to even younger children, for example in the car or as background music during time at home. We can all benefit from great literature and great music, and a combination of the two is a win-win situation!

I had my youngest three children listen along with me, and all three were quite interested. Scientist, as you might expect, liked all the details and analyzed the piece in interesting ways. Little Mommy and Baseball Boy just enjoyed the story and music. LM said her favorite animal was the bird, and now would like to hear more flute music. BB, being a boy, liked the wolf’s and hunter’s parts. :o) I just loved being able to share something special from my childhood with my children. (Well, most of them. We won’t discuss Pre-Teen, of course.) We were very thankful to be included in this review, and I’m seriously considering getting another one, as soon as the budget permits.

To read what my other crewmates thought, please click here: http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/783654/

Disclaimer: I receieved this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was received.