Peter and the Wolf

Everyone who teaches music to children listens and watches Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf".

I was lucky a parent gave us the book illustrated by Peter Malone. Students would start listening to the music and wonder the movie was. I had to explain that I was showing them illustrations from a book and listening to a score. You realize again the power of story telling to young children. It activates their imaginations in ways a TV, or a video, can't.  We'd never get through the whole story in one class. I could time it so that the picture of the wolf would be the last image before they would leave. Plenty of dramatic build up.

I do recommend the award winning animation by Suzie Templeton. This re-telling of the story is not without some serious drawbacks for very young students. You need to preview it first. (I'm sure we all preview videos first.) My favorite scene is the part where the bird with the help of a balloon flies down to the ice before the cat runs out to have him for breakfast. (8:20- 10:40)