Product Review: John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads (John Denver & Kids!) [Paperback] (Age 4+)
Music makes pictures and often tells stories, all of it magic and all of it true.
And all of the pictures and all of the stories, and all of the magic, the music is you.
– John Denver
I am proud of my Appalachian roots. I come from southeastern Ohio and I spent a good portion of my childhood being about to view West Virginia from across the river of my hometown. As one of the approximately 23 million people who currently grow up in the stretch of land that spans from Belle Isle Canada to the Cheaha Mountain in Alabama, I am quite aware of the ridiculous images and jokes of the simple-minded, toothless, gun-loving, drunken, tobacco-spitting Appalachian hillbilly. I am not here to change your mind if the hillbilly stereotype is something you hold dear, but I will say in my view that the 18th century immigrants who set-up camp in the difficult remote mountain climate of the Appalachian Mountains had to have been some very hard working and courageous folk. It is true that up to 40% of the Appalachian population lives in poverty today and one reason I am not living there is from the lack of job opportunity in the region. That said, I am fond of the beauty of the area and am grateful to have grown up around Wayne National Forest, the foothills of the mid-Ohio valley and the two rivers that run through my childhood memories. John Denver’s 1971 folk/country song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” speaks lovingly to me since I heard it early in my youth. To be able to share this experience through a children’s book with my Texan daughter is very special to me.
John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” song has been adapted and illustrated for a children’s book by Dawn Publishing. Illustrator Christopher Canyon (who is an Ohio resident) made the lyrics pop with his cheery and colorful patchwork quilt pictures throughout the book that depict a journey into West Virginia that ends with a destination of a music-loving family reunion. This book includes the words and music of the song in the back of the book and I can personally vouch that I tested playing the guitar chords from the book to my daughter. The hardcover version of this book is also available for purchase on the Dawn Publishing website and includes a CD of the song for $17.95. Almost Heaven!
About Dawn Publishing: Connecting Children and Nature. Dawn Publishing has been publishing nature-inspired books for children since 1979 with their release of Sharing Nature with Children by Joseph Cornell. This Nevada City, CA Company is committed to their mission of inspiring children to have an appreciation for life and their website has a fantastic teacher’s resource section including free downloads. Click here if you are interested in checking out their additional John Denver picture books in their awesome catalog.
Check it out! Dawn Publications Blog is a fun and interesting blog about children and nature that includes a weekly Mystery Contest.
John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads (John Denver & Kids!) [Paperback] (Age 4+)
Web Special Paperback Price: $8.06
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