This book is about the musician Bach. It tells about his life and accomplishments. I would read this to students to help them gain and understanding and appreciation for music and this great musician. ( )

Sebastian Bach was born into a musical family and learned to play the various instruments. His parents died and he became an orphan at the age of nine. He went to boarding school and learned to play the organ. As an adult he began creating his own music and share it wherever he traveled. Sebastian had a family of twenty children and they lived in a house near the church where he directed music. Sebastian continued to compose music until the minute he died. This biography was good but I don’t think children would find it particularly interesting. I would like to share this book during a thematic unit on music composers. Students could learn about various composers, choose a favorite, and then complete some type of activity on that composer. ( )

The story begins with Vitus Bach teaching his son the violin. Afterwards each father in the Bach family taught their son the violin, including the father of Sebastian Bach. Sebastian's parents both died when he was young, and he had to live with his older brother, Christoph. It was then Sebastian learned to play the clavichord, and he copied music to be played each night. When he was fifteen he left for school, and while there he learned to play the organ. It was after he left school, that he began composing his own music. He later married, had children, and lived in Leipzig. ( )