Book Review: Composer and Musician: Franz Peter Schubert (OT)

Composer and Musician: Franz Peter Schubert, by Julie Sormark (Julie Sormark, $9.99, 2023, 56pp)

Even in the 1700s and 1800s in Austria, coming from a middle- to lower class family, Franz Peter Schubert was uniquely talented, a musical genius who, unfortunately, was not well-known while he was alive. He also was never married though he fell in love twice, because he was so poor. He passed away young at age 31, looking up to or perhaps even idolizing Beethoven, but some people thought soon after his death that his musical composing abilities surpassed those of Beethoven. 

A Fun Book!

Author Julie Sormark writes this book in poem-form, a difficult task to accomplish well. Plus, she adds some quizzes: fill-in-the-blanks, multiple choice, and true-false along with a page of vocabulary words. And, perhaps more fun is how the illustrator, Timothy Stiles, drew so many pictures that the young reader can color, thus remembering what the story is all about and who Schubert was.

Other books in the series include Chopin, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Brahms and seven others musicians and composers. 

Ultimately, this engaging educational biographical poem serves as an accessible gateway that preserves Schubert's profound artistic legacy for a brand-new generation of young piano students.

Note: This was fun! I have recently tried to write at least 200 words per review but this time I got stuck at 178 so I asked Chat GPT who came up with the final  paragraph which I then edited. If I do so in the future, I will certainly note it as well.