STILL Paying It Forward! This One's for the Kids!

Tonight's blog post was inspired by two events today:

• My son's spring band concert, which featured music from several feature films, a few of which were spawned by books.
• A fabulous post on an equally fabulous blog, It's All Kid's Play penned by fellow author and friend, Jean Oram which gives great advice on how to bring books into the lives of your children.  Hop over to her blog and definitely read this article:  How to Bring Books Into Your Child's Life

Tonight while I sat in the packed gym at my son's middle school, I looked at the gentleman who has poured his heart and soul into starting the music program at Riverwatch (Thank you Mr. Koperniak! Forsyth Co. Ga Teacher of the Year!) inspiring hundreds of children to discover music, including my thirteen year old son, a two year member of the band program.

Kids, literature and music:  all three should go happily hand-in-hand. How can we make that happen?  Let's start a discussion.

 So many times, a soundtrack can make a book come alive, and when my son was younger, I'd download  soundtrack from some of his favorite movies and we'd listen to them before we'd read some of his favorite books.  

The first few seconds of this movie theme, could  make my son go running for his "Harry" books, grabbing them from the bookshelves and directly into my hands so we could together, read before bedtime.  The songs brought to life the stories in his head, and heightened his reading experience, and I believe the same thing vice/versa can be said for listening to music and subsequently feeling inspired to read a book!

Books and music inspire creativity, and if your child loves music but maybe isn't into reading, why not find the soundtrack from their favorite movie, and find a book perhaps the movie inspired and play the music before offering to read to them?  Trust me...this works! 

Or if your child loves reading, but never dreamed of playing an instrument, find a favorite book they've read which has been brought to the big screen, and play the soundtrack of it for them in the car while running family errands when they're along for the ride.  My son, an athlete at heart, found his way to music through listening to soundtracks from some of his favorite movies.

If we as authors want to change the world one book at a time, we've got to find ways to heighten the experience of reading, and firmly believe the addition of a soundtrack sometimes can give that extra rush of emotion, thus making reading a truly personal experience.

Before we go tonight, let's never forget we're all kids at heart.  I know for one, listening to music helps me write scenes more intensely and without my ITunes playing in the background when I write on my laptop, my writing would at best be...lukewarm.

Now on with the show!  Feel free to enjoy a few wonderful pieces from the Riverwatch Middle School Band, directed by the amazing Matt Koperniak and featuring somewhere in the maze of heads, my son (trumpet player).

"Robin Hood:  Prince of Thieves" (Michael Kamen/arr.Bocook)

I'll bet you've read a Robin Hood book sometime in your life, didn't you?

And in ending tonight's post, don't forget that "The Journey of One Book" will continue, as we take a field trip to the "big green bin" in our next post.  

Tonight I leave you with the Riverwatch Middle School Band (these kids are only twelve, thirteen, and fourteen years old and they're awesome!) as they rock the house to Train's "Hey Soul Sister" (Pat Monahan, Espen Lind, and Amund Bjorkland/arr. Kazik).  

Can you hear that awesome trumpet?  Who could that talented kid be?  (giggles)