V is for von Trapp

This afternoon my door bell rang and I was delivered a package which came from Sleeping Bear Press. I stood on the porch and opened it up to discover this beautiful gem of a book and I just had to tell you about it right away!

V is for Von Trapp: A Musical Family Alphabet is the latest and greatest in Sleeping Bear Press's line up and it is amazing in every single way. I immediately walked back inside the house and devoured the book (in a healthy way, of course.)

I think this book is a bit more unique than some of the other titles that come out of Sleeping Bear Press because it tells the story of one particular family. From A to Z we pick up facts about the famous Von Trapp Family Singers. I was also very impressed that, despite the fact that the book works through the alphabet, author William Anderson does a marvelous job telling their story chronologically, beginning with A is for Austria. We learn about the Von Trapp family's home country and the Captain with his first wife. As we move through the alphabet we learn about the scarlet fever that took the life of the children's mama and how Maria came into the family home. I really appreciated the way that Anderson gives us snippets of facts strung together in a story-telling manner.

The illustrations by Linda Graves are a nice compliment to the story. I looked up some pictures of the original Von Trapp family online and I recognized the faces of Maria and even one of her granddaughters from the pictures that Graves presents us with. I love that she brought the characters to life as they really looked, instead of Julie Andrews-ing the story. (Although I have no objections to Julie Andrews at all and whatsoever! The only other person who can be Maria besides, of course, Maria, is Julie Andrews!)

S, as you might suspect, is for The Sound of Music and in V is for Von Trapp: A Musical Family Alphabet they talk about the movie and the family's reaction to the depiction of their family.

Truly, this is a marvelous book and I highly, highly, highly recommend it to any fans (or friends of fans) of the movie The Sound of Music. (Can you say "Christmas List" anyone?) This book put such a huge smile on my face this afternoon and I'm exited to see it!

THANKS, Sleeping Bear Press, for giving us such a lovely book to enjoy a piece of musical history with. I so look forward to sharing this title with my kids in the years to come.