This list is for the Creating Cultural Connections post for The Music Crew’s 2025 conference. You can find out more about this FREE conference here.
- Willie Nelson & Bobbie Nelson: Sister, Brother Family (Depression Era Texas)
- Benny Goodman & Teddy Wilson Taking the Stage as the First Black-and-White Jazz Band in History (representation, Swing music, anti-segregation)
- Django World’s Greatest Jazz Guitarist (overcoming a debilitating injury to gain back music)
- Just Ask: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You (teaching students to look past disability)
- Itzhak: A Boy Who Loved the Violin (overcoming a debilitating illness)
- Song for Jimi: The Story of Guitar Legend Jimi Hendrix (absent parent, turbulent childhood)
- Tarong, Kamatis, Paria (non-English, food song)
- The Hawayano: A Tale of Filipino Plantation Worker in Hawaii (musical book, immigrant life)
- Song in the City (Blind girl opens her grandma’s ears)
- The Red Piano (Child taken from her family to live in labor camp during Chinese Cultural Revolution.)
- The Girl Who Heard the Music (Rapa Nui, bringing music to her home)
- When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop (Hip Hop music)
- The Apple Tree (Cherokee boy who plants and apple seed and nurtures the seedling to become a tree – stories from other cultures)
- Sugar Pie Lullaby (song, Motown)
- Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay (Creating music with what they have)
- Sweet Sounds: The ABCs of Black Women in Music (representation)
- Selena Queen of Tejano Music (representation, Tejano music)
- Dancing the Tinikling (representation)
- Let’s Hoop Dance (representation)
- I See the Rhythm of Gospel (Gospel music)
- The Curly Girl Blues (blues music, representation)
- When I Get Older The Story Behind “Wavin’ Flag” (representation, immigrant, song)
- Little People Big Dreams Ella Fitzgerald (parent loss, representation, Jazz music)
- Josie Dances (representation, Powwow)
There are always a bunch of more options listed on The Ultimate Music Ed Book List. This is just a small sampling!
I hope this has given you some good ideas!
