Books/CDs introducing kids to classical music

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Can anyone recommend some Books/CDs introducing kids to classical music?

Or any suggestions on how to introduce classical music to young kid?

The young person's guide to the orchestra and Peter and the wolf are often on the same cd.

Just having classical music on the radio is a good start I think.

If you are near London the LSO does great workshops for under fives, including Peter and the Wolf

My kids quite liked the music of John Williams since they recognise the film score music. Classical music snobs will probably argue that it isn't true classical music but I don't see the big deal if it gets kids into orchestral music.

I used to like these, but not sure how easily available they are any longer (I had them in Canada quite a few years ago).

Classical Kids

They are narrated stories that feature the composers as characters, and had various bits of their music as background. I really grew to like some of the pieces.

I second the Peter and the Wolf suggestion.

DD also has a fantastic book on Swan Lake by Margot Fonteyn (don't know if it's still in print) and she has listened to the ballet as a result.

Menuhin published a CD about the instruments of the orchestra. My DS became addicted to it age 2!

We've got this. It's OK - kids quite like it. But their favourites are

and .

Gustav Mole is a lovely story with CD about a little mole who plays violin- great introduction to orchestras and different styles of acoustic music. I second the idea of film music as it's more likely to have a story that little ones can relate to- you can buy CDs of classical music that has been used for films too and John Williams music is beautifully orchestrated with great themes (as are most Disney soundtracks actually!)

My DC were addicted to the Nutcracker ballet on DVD. DS really impressed his preschool teacher at the age of 3 when he heard it playing at school and said - its the Nutcracker! And that was the first live ballet they saw.

Don't know if they are still available, but someone gave my DS a Baby Einstein CD and DVD when he was a baby, they were a matching pair of the same music (Baby Beethoven), we played them all the time, he still loves the CD aged 8 and does pipe up with "That's Beethoven" when he hears it somewhere else. When he was a toddler, if he got hysterical or was ill, the DVD was often the only thing that would calm him down.

We've also got a CD set of 100 Greatest Classics that has all the most well known bits, we all like that.