Explore the varied inspiration and purpose behind musicians' work.

• Hear the story of a child's courage and perseverance in Margarita Engle's Meet-the-Author Recording about Drum Dream Girl.

Learn the backstory of famous musicians, genres, and approaches.

• Bring the music-making process to life with Christopher Myers' Meet-the-Author Recording for Jazz.

Discover ways authors and illustrators analyze, describe, and express music (genres).

• Listen and hear how the rhythm of Alexis DeVeaux's words mirror the rhythm of the music in the Meet-the-Author Recording for Don't Explain: A Song of Billie Holiday.

Connect content and provide historical background about world events.

• Consider M.T. Anderson's blog post on his research for Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad describing the critical importance of music meeting military history.