Peter and the Wolf
retold & illustrated by James Mayhew
Otter-Barry Books

This is a splendid retelling of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf tale – the one set to music as a folk story using different instruments of the orchestra for different characters. These are introduced before the storytelling and there’s a QR code that takes you to a recording of the author narrating the tale with musical accompaniment of Prokofiev’s piece.

James Mayhew splendid collage style scenes of how Peter captures the wolf with the aid of a little bird, together with his written account of the story that also involves a duck and a cat,

with its unexpected ending (I won’t spoil things by revealing what happens) offers a smashing introduction to an essential element of primary age children’s musical education.

A book for home collections and KS1/2 libraries.