www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, March 31, 2016 | 38 John Bkila Sub-Editor jbkila@oakvillebeaver.com Helping children go Baroque With Joy Suzanne Brown's new book introduces classical music to young children by John Bkila Oakville Beaver Staff Artscene "Connected to your Community" Oakville's Suzanne Brown, a.k.a. Suzie Sunshine, wants to make it easy and fun to teach children about classical music. And she's hoping her book, Baroque With Joy, will do just that. "We all know that introducing children to classical music is important, but I think some people shy away from it because they just don't know how," Brown told the Oakville Beaver. "My hope is that my new series can give parents, teachers and grandparents an easy vehicle to do that." Part of her Joy-Filled Beginnings series of books, Baroque with Joy is a "joyful, light-hearted" introduction, in a picture-book form, to three great composers of the Baroque era -- Johann Sebastian Bach, Domenico Scarlatti and George Frideric Handel. Brown said she decided to look for an illustrator after realizing some of the photos of the composers were too complex for young children, and in some cases, even scaring them. "So, I started a journey to find an illustrator that could bring the poems to life with joy and colour," she said, noting she came across Romi Caron of Gatineau, Que. Brown said poems she had written previously on the great composers made it easy to introduce classical music in an age-appropriate way. "The children loved them," she explained. "My background is in musical theatre, opera, composition and everything in between. I love all styles of music and have been writing songs and poems since I was a young girl." Oakville performer Suzanne Brown, a.k.a. Suzie Sunshine, recently published a picture book, Baroque With Joy, to help parents and teachers introduce classical music to their children and students, respectively, in a fun way. Pictured at left is Brown at one of her readings of her book at a Chapters. Above, is the cover of Baroque With Joy. | photo at left by Daniel Clark, courtesy Suzanne Brown We all know that introducing children to classical music is important, but I think some people shy away from it because they just don't know how. My hope is that my new series can give parents, teachers and grandparents an easy vehicle to do that. Oakville author and performer Suzanne Brown The Bahamas-born performer and music teacher said she noticed in her line of work, generally, the parents of young children didn't quite know the great composers. "But grandma and grandpa do," she noted. "Although classical music isn't the only mu- sic necessary in musical education, it is a big part of it and we know that children's tastes are formed very early on." Brown has taken on doing readings and educational shows with her new book and the response has been a positive and promising one. "I am getting the most amazing feedback and I honestly feel that this will make a difference in many people's lives," she said. Music for the book is available for free on Brown's website www.suziesunshine.ca. There is a "story-time" version for emerging readers to follow along to an audio of Brown reading the book with classical music playing in the background, and a version with just the music for parents and teachers who want to read it for the children and students, respectively. "It can be the start of a musical journey for the whole family or the classroom," added Brown. Big Movies... small mall Prices! 171 Speers Road (at Kerr) Oakville General: $8.50 Children (3-13): $6.50 seniors (65+): $6.50 tuesdays: $5.00 905-338-6397 www.film.ca facebook.com/filmca @FilmCaCinemas the Boss (14A) April 8th the JunGle Book (pG) April 15th the huntsmAn: Winter's WAr (pG) April 21st mother's DAy (stC) April 28th rAtChet AnD ClAnk nk (stC) April 28th