My First Story Orchestra: Four Seasons In One Day

Vivaldi's Four Seasons, played by a real orchestra, in a book small enough to sit in a child's lap. Press the button on each page and ten seconds of actual strings fill the room as spring turns to summer, summer to autumn, autumn to winter, all in one day. It is a quietly lovely thing, and children ask for it again and again.

We love it because:

• Six sound buttons, each playing a real orchestral excerpt from The Four Seasons, which means this is genuinely a child's first experience of classical music rather than a tinny approximation of it
• Jessica Courtney-Tickle's illustrations are warm and beautifully observed: a dog chasing butterflies in spring, leaves turning in autumn, the same tree changing through every season
• The My First Story Orchestra series is one of the best ideas in children's books: classic music, real recordings, gorgeous illustration, all made accessible without being dumbed down
• The kind of gift that parents quietly love as much as the child, especially if the alternative is another book with sound effects that make you flinch

What's in the box:

• Hardback sound book, 14 pages
• 6 sound buttons, each playing a 10-second orchestral excerpt from Vivaldi's Four Seasons
• Full colour illustrations by Jessica Courtney-Tickle throughout
• Published by Aurum Press Quarto

Great for:

• Ages 1 and up, through to early primary children being introduced to classical music
• A beautiful and unusual baby gift, a birthday present, or the book you choose when you want something that feels genuinely special
• Early music appreciation, seasonal changes and the simple pleasure of pressing a button at exactly the right moment in the story

Important to know:

• Hardback, 14 pages
• Dimensions: 16.7 x 16.7cm (6.6 x 6.6 in)
• 6 sound buttons with real orchestral recordings
• ISBN: 9780711292468
• Published February 2025
• Requires batteries (included)