Beethoven Lives Upstairs

Beethoven Lives Upstairs – Barbara Nichol, illustrated by Scott Cameron
Orchard Books
ISBN: 0-531-06828-5

My rating: 4 out of 5

This is the fictional story about a boy writing to his uncle about a person who has moved into he and his mother’s attic – Ludwig von Beethoven. Even thought the correspondence between the nephew and uncle are fiction, the incidents that Beethoven goes through are quite real. This book really showed some of the struggles he went through in order to finish his music, even after he was completely deaf. It gave a personality to a man who has been dead for many many years. The book also discusses the creation of the well-known “Ninth Symphony” that most students have probably heard in the past.

The illustrations in this book are rich and detailed oil-paintings. The colors and shadows really give a sense of sunlight and candlelight, which is very hard to do. I really like these illustrations and think that they add a whole new dimension to this story.

“Beethoven Lives Upstairs” would be great to use to introduce classical music to students.