As a longtime arts educator who has worked predominantly with kids ages 3 to 12, I initially set out to find books that could inspire them about theatre. For many years I have searched for the perfect books that achieve this and have used all of these books in my teaching.
This book is a whimsical, colorful, and delightful introduction to the women who have made the American Musical Theatre great. Kids learn all about such talented ladies as Audra McDonald, Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Bernadette Peters, Lea Salonga, and Kristin Chenoweth, to name a few.
"It's an incredible honor to be included in this amazing book of the greatest talent the Broadway stage has ever known!" —AUDRA McDONALD, six-time Tony Award-winning actress
From Audra McDonald to Liza with a "Z," here is a showstopping alphabet book featuring your favorite leading ladies of the Broadway stage!
Step into the spotlight and celebrate a cavalcade of Broadway's legendary ladies. Start with "A" for six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, then sing and dance your way through the alphabet with beloved entertainers like Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Lea Salonga, Kristin Chenoweth, Kelli O'Hara, and Liza Minnelli!
An oldie, but goodie, Wendy Wasserstein’s Pamela’s First Musical follows the wide-eyed title character as she enjoys the experience of a lifetime: a trip with her Aunt Louise to see her first musical on the Great White Way. This book is written by one of Broadway’s great female playwrights, the late Wendy Wasserstein.
On Pamela's ninth birthday, her Aunt Louise takes her to her first Broadway musical where she gets to meet the actors and staff who helped make it an award-winning show. Reprint.
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
For slightly older kids in the 8-12 age range, this chapter book (one in The Broadway Mouse series) follows a little mouse named Lulu with big dreams of starring on Broadway. This book will inspire young people to further investigate the magic of theatre.
Lulu is a little girl with a very big dream: she wants to be on Broadway. She wants it more than anything in the world. As it happens, she lives in Broadway's Shubert Theatre; so achieving her dream shouldn't be too tricky, right? Wrong. Because the thing about Lulu? She's a little girl mouse.
When a human girl named Jayne joins the cast of the show at the Shubert as an understudy, Lulu becomes Jayne's guide through the world of her theatre and its wonderfully kooky cast and crew. Together, Jayne and Lulu learn that sometimes dreams turn out differently…
There are many jobs in theatre, from the performers on stage, to all of the people like the writers, directors, and designers who make their magic behind the scenes. This book makes the excellent case that there is a place for anyone in the theatre, taking kids by the hand walking them through how it requires a team effort to make a production happen.
A delightful introduction to opera, Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera teaches elementary school children what opera is by showing how it is made. "Who writes the words?", "Who makes an opera happen? "Who is backstage?"--these questions and more are answered with easy-to-understand explanations and are illustrated with whimsical watercolors by the author. From composer, choreographer, and costume designers to the conductor, lighting and special effects crew, and, of course, the singers, the excitement builds as Anne Siberell explains each person's role in producing an opera. Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera reveals details of the most famous…
What were America's first prisons like? How did penal reformers, prison administrators, and politicians deal with the challenges of confining human beings in long-term captivity as punishment--what they saw as a humane intervention?
The Deviant Prison centers on one early prison: Eastern State Penitentiary. Built in Philadelphia, one of the…
Stage fright is a challenge that some performers must overcome. Some do so more easily, but when everyone’s favorite turtle Franklin is cast in the school’s production of The Nutcracker, his nerves start to get the better of him. This story is not only a great introduction to theatre, but it also features a relatable character overcoming a struggle and persevering.
In this Franklin Classic Storybook, Franklin has been chosen to play the Nutcracker Prince in his class's production. But will he be too nervous to say his lines when the big night arrives?
The Magical Mice of Broadway is a fairytale about Broadway during Covid, imagining an alternative reality for what happened on the Great White Way when performances halted on some of our favorite Broadway musicals. When the people are away, the mice will play…or at least these lovable rodents do, taking over such shows as Wicked, Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton, Chicago, and The Phantom of the Opera, keeping theatre’s flame alive until the people can return. This book is both an enchanting and hopeful look into the world of Broadway during a trying time.
The plan was insane. The trap seemed to snap shut on Bruce and Maggie Tate, an isolation forced on them by the pandemic and America's growing political factionalism. Something had to change.
Maggie's surprising answer: buy a boat, learn to pilot it, and embark on the Great Loop. With no…
Former police detective Michael McLaren is looking forward to spending Christmas at his grandfather's ancient Hall with his grandfather, uncle, and his lady love, Melanie. But McLaren’s holiday plan gets snowed under when a dead man is discovered outside his grandfather’s house--in circumstances similar to an older murder. And it’s…
