Billy Briggs, Big on Skates

This storybook for elementary school children introduces students to important musical works through an imaginative adventure story. Teachers can either read the story while playing the CD to help evoke the soundscapes of the music. Alternatively, once students are familiar with the story they can simply listen and look at the pictures. This is ideal for use as part of an integrated scheme of work for art music and literacy, and is a very approachable resource for non-specialists. Billy Briggs skates along the frozen Moldau river – a ribbon of ice. He can hear the water crawling below. It seems to whisper ‘set me free’ . . . Join Billy as he sets off on a mission that introduces him to creatures of the night, ghostly figures and requires him to muster all of his inner strength to overcome the obstacles in his path. Based on ‘The Moldau’ from Bedrich Smetana’s Má Vlast.