Title: El ABC de Jug Band Music
Author: Morgan Cochneuer
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1-7283-3877-4
Pages: 35
Genre: Children’s
Reviewed by: Candace L. Barr
Pacific Book Review
El ABC de Jug Band Music is a Spanish translation of Morgan Cochneuer’s The ABC’s of Jug Band Music, which explores a side of music that’s often forgotten. When you think about introducing a child to music education, you probably think about classical music, and instruments like the piano or the violin. This book takes a look at a genre that is accessible (all you need is a jug, after all!), and the text and illustrations emphasize the fun side of making music.
One thing to note is that this book does not introduce 26 instruments; rather, this alphabet includes other elements such as dance and rhythm, which are also important in music. There are also a few questions thrown in, which end up reminding the reader that this is indeed a translation. That said, I did appreciate the inclusion of Earl McDonald (not to be confused with Earl MacDonald, the Canadian jazz composer), and I encourage readers to look him and his music up.
The illustrations are colorful and show a diverse selection of musicians, instruments, and fans. Most of the illustrations show people on stage or on simple colored backgrounds, but there are also a few showing music being played in other locales, showing music can be found and made anywhere.
While the book is fine on its own, knowing that the original is written in rhyme presents some issues. The translation was done without consideration of rhyme and meter, making the Spanish version flow differently from the English one, and I wish the translator had kept that in mind so that Spanish-speaking children could also experience the rhythm and rhyme, especially since this is a book about music. Although I would have handled the translation differently so the book would appeal more to native Spanish speakers, this book could be valuable to English speakers who are just learning Spanish if used alongside the English version.
