A friendly and inspiring introduction to music history, telling the stories of the world’s greatest musicians from Bach to Beyonce.

The Story of Music begins with the early drums and flutes of our ancestors, which date back to the last icea age, through to the modern day. Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom take your on a tour of their personally selected music library which showcases the work of some of the world’s most famous artists and few a less well-known ones. The musicians featured include Vivaldi, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Chuck Berry; Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Blondie, Grandmaster Flash, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce as well as Bjork and Kraftwerk. The friendly text and illustrations help children to appreciate the music, highlighting interesting biographical details and picking out key details to spot. The book’s large format means the music artwork is reproduced on a wonderfully impactful scale. This really is a book to give and treasure.

The creative team of Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom are well-known for their ground breaking children’s information books. Their many awards range the TES Information Book Award for What’s Under the Bed? and the English Association Non-fiction award for Charlie’s War Illustrated.