| | |

Mr. Pipes and The British Hymn Makers

This post may contain affiliate links.

I have a wonderful book to share with you today called Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers, by Douglas Bond and published by Christian Liberty Press.  I was excited to read this because music and singing are a huge part of my life.  So, this subject is something that really interests me. 

A little about the book:

It is the first book in the series by Douglas Bond and tells the story of two teens who are spending the summer in England.  Their mother is working all of the time, so they basically can roam free in a little English village. They are not terribly happy to be there at first and complain of how old everything is. One day, early on in their trip,  they stumble into a church and hear the organ playing.  There they meet Mr. Pipes (not his real name, but what everyone calls him). He is the organist and an expert on the history and composers of hymns. Mr Pipes teaches them all about famous British hymn writers. They also learn about the value of traditional worship and praise.  They have never known much about religion and decide to become Christians because of the things they learn.  

This book is recommended for grades 7-10.  However, I used it as a read-aloud for my son who is almost eight and is an advanced reader.  He really enjoyed it. I actually think the characters- though they are represented as being teenagers- seem quite a bit younger.   There are also some darling illustrations throughout the book that we enjoyed looking at. The book has 242 pages and was first published in 1999.

Some of the composers covered:
Thomas Ken
Isaac Watts
Charles Wesley
William Williams
John Newton
William Cowper
John Bunyan
And more…

Some things I really loved about this book…

My family came from England and Wales, so I love learning more about the history and heritage of this people.  There is actually a section about a Welsh hymn writers and the beginning of the Eisteddfod- which is a singing/music competition that still goes on today in Wales.  In this book they talk about how it began to help create better hymns for the church.  I have an ancestor who actually won this competition and won the title of the “Songster of the Valley”.  It is a fun story that my father likes to tell to the family.  I LOVED reading about this in the book! 

At the end of each chapter after it teaches all about a different hymn writer, it has the musical scores for the hymns.  I was excited to see this because it is fun for me to learn them and teach them to my children. The book I got came in PDF format, so we can print the music and play it, too.   Many of the hymns are ones that we actually know and sing in our own church.  We really liked that a lot!  When I was at church on Sunday, I spent some time looking through our hymn book looking for the composers that I have been learning about in this book.  I love reading something that applies so directly to my life!  This is a great addition to any history or religion curriculum.

 

There are four books in the series:
Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers
Mr. Pipes Comes to America
Mr. Pipes and Psalms and Hymns of the Reformation
Accidental Voyage: Discovering Hymns of the Early Centuries

You can purchase these books through the Christian Liberty  website.  The books are $9.89, or $8.79 for the e-book/PDF format. 

Disclaimer:  I received this book for free as a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew.  All opionions are my own and I was compensated in no other way.

To see more reviews on this book click the button below:

Photobucket

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply