Where Are All The Black Female Composers: The Ultimate Fun Facts Guide (Why Music?)

I bought this for my 16 year old niece for her birthday and she absolutely loves it. She said that she can’t believe she hasn’t been taught about a lot of this in school and she is doing music and dance. She has been showing it to her friends too I’m really pleased as I knew she’d love it she loves to learn and I feel like the book found the right home

A fanatic book

Nathan Holder has done it again! A superb book that shines a light on the amazing breadth of talent among black females.I grew up learning to play the piano (classically) but only knowing about Beethoven, Mozart, Bach etc. If I had read this book as a child and seen that there were classical composers that looked like me, it could have changed things completely. I know of fantastic musicians who gave up on their dream to be concert pianists and composers. Had this book been around while they were growing up, I’m certain we’d be listening to their pieces now.This is a must-read book for children (but equally informative and interesting for adults alike). Let them open their eyes to the opportunities that may be out there and show them that they can do anything they put their mind to. Let them see others who have excelled and see that who they may learn about in school or music lessons, is only a snapshot of the talent out there!Nathan showcases his engaging and informative style of writing and the illustrations, fun facts and quiz questions will keep your child fully engaged and leave them wanting to learn more. The book is a nice length that will have your child able to complete it in few sittings and then want to dig back in time and time again.As with Nathan’s previous book (also buy that if you haven’t) the Spotify playlist is a great addition!

A fantastic and necessary book about the numerous black female classical composers there are. There are so many brilliant black women writing music but the white male dominated industry has erased them all. Finally someone is writing these women into the story. While aimed at children it is suitable for adults too, a huge wealth of information to lead you down a seriously deep rabbit hole of discovery.Children (and adults) will love the fun facts and quiz questions with quotes and cool stories to bring these women to life. In addition there are lots of beautiful illustrations to give faces to these amazing women.This book will be an amazing guide for children interested in music, showing them that whatever their skin colour they can make music. They will definitely be inspired by all these brilliant women. I’m mixed race myself and I wish a book like this existed when I was growing up. I only found out about black female composers recently and am constantly mindblown by their amazing stories of their lives and work, of persistence, innovation, fighting both racism and sexism and blazing trails across the industry.I actually already know of many of the composers listed, I produce a radio show championing women composers and ive included many of the composers in this book on the show but 2 years ago I didn’t know any of these names. Thrilled to see a fair few unfamiliar names and unknown facts too so lots to discover for me too!Definitely a must read. Seriously if you and your children read no other books this year read this one.