A Suzuki Parent's Diary, or How I Survived My First 10,000 Twinkles

Carroll Morris

A humorous look at what it means to be a Suzuki parent. Reassurance that while every child has talent, behind every talented child is a parent who nurtures, practices -- both music and patience! -- and most importantly, perseveres.

They're Rarely Too Young...and Never Too Old "to Twinkle!"

Kay Collier Slone

Talent is educated, not inherited, Shinichi Suzuki points out, saying: “There is l ittle one can do about his heredity, but he can do something about his environment.” The proper environment at home is critical. Kay Collier Stone guides the parent, step-by-step, through realistic expectations for children’s accomplishments at each stage of learning and at every age.

Nurtured by Love: The Classical Approach to Talent Education

Shinichi Suzuki - Translated by Waltrud Suzuki

World-renown teacher Shinichi Suzuki presents the philosophies and principles of his teaching methods for developing the natural abilities of every child. He illustrates by examples his amazing successes with students in his school in Japan. The author writes, “If Einstein, Goethe and Beethoven had been born during the Stone Age, wouldn’t they likewise have had only the cultural ability and education of men of the Stone Age? Every child has ability, and any slowness in a subject indicates a deficiency in his environment, educational or otherwise.

To Learn with Love: a companion for Suzuki Parents

William and Constance Starr

This book is loaded with practical, usable information that opens the minds and hearts to the wonderful adventure of learning. Written by a husband and wife team, professional musicians who raised a family of Suzuki students.

Ability Development from Age Zero

Shinichi Suzuki

In this sequel to Nurtured By Love, Dr. Suzuki states that, the fate of the child is in the hands of his parents. With this book he shows how to create a warm environment which will encourage any child to become a happy, loving and talented human being.

Teaching from the Balance Point: a guide for Suzuki Parents, Teachers and Students

Edward Kreitman

This book not only inspires the careful development of skills necessary for success, it offers many creative suggestions on how to proceed in an orderly fashion. Written in the spirit of Dr. Suzuki’s teaching, it combines a clear-sighted understanding of the process of learning with awareness of the complex situations that face parents, teachers and students in the real world of day-to-day teaching and practicing.

Young Children's Talent Education & Its Method

Shinichi Suzuki

This book contains several essays on dealing with children’s abilities, educational systems, memory and absorption, the power of habit, early education and the fostering of students' talents. A glimpse into the mind of a great man! This textbook by the father of the Suzuki Method, Dr. Shinichi Suzuki.

The Mozart Season

Virginia Ewuer Wolff

Ages: 11 - 13

No sooner does violinist Allegra Leah Sharpiro put down her softball mitt for the summer when she learns she has been selected as a finalist in a local competition. She spends the summer sparing with her older brother, lamenting her parents' unfair restriction on late-night bike riding, reconciling the need to be herself while wanting to please her parents, and preparing Mozart's fourth violin concerto.

The Sandy Bottom Orchestra

Garrison Keillor and Jenny Lind Nilsson

Ages: 10 and up

A rambling and entertaining story of next-door friends Rachel and Carol as they cope with Rachel's mather's efforts to instill 'cultural awareness' in this boring little town and her dairy-manager father's plan to conduct a full orchestra, complete with cannons, at the annual Dairy Days festival. Carol's softball career leads her in one direction, while Rachel's violin mastery leads her to a summer orchestral opportunity, and a real boyfriend.

Yang the Youngest and his Terrible Ear

Lensey Namioka

Ages: 8 - 12

Chinese native Yang Yingtao is a natural at baseball, but no amount of violin practicing can seem to make up for his intonation challenges and allow him to complete the family string quartet. Fortunately, a new school friend, Matthew, is as talented muscially as Yingtao is athletically. But Matthew's family is suspicious of his love for the violin and would rather he practice baseball. Can they pull off a switch at the family recital with both families watching?

Stories of Composers for Young Musicians
More Stories of Composers

Catherine Wolff Kendall

Ages: 12 and up

These books contain three- to five-page biographies of famous composers, their lives as children and later as adults who found and gave pleasure in music. With portraits, a calendar of composers' birthdays, and a list of pieces included in the violin and viola literature, with original sources and recordings by leading artists. Both books are hard to find, but worth the effort.