This book goes through the history of country music from when it started in the 1920s all the way to today’s modern times. At country music’s infancy, many household items like spoons, jugs, and washboards were used to make music along with musical instruments that we see today like the piano and guitar. Yodeling was also once a form of country music. During the Great Depression, this form of music was popular because it was easy to produce when money was low. It also goes in depth about famous country singers from Henry Whitter to Johnny Bond to Brenda Lee to Hank Williams. The story also talks about Nashville and why it was chosen as the hub for country music. It was because Nashville is in the middle of the south and access to get there was easy. At the end it talks about how country music has changed from where it was to how it is now. The book was very informative and there were some very interesting facts that I did not know about with country music. The book was intended for middle readers and overall was an easy read. Good book to type a report on country music in music class.

This tongue-in-cheek overview features a folksy narrative of how and why country music developed in the barns and back roads of rural America. The text doesn't miss a beat—it covers instruments, early recordings, yodeling (with a humorous spread on how-to), the Great Depression, gospel, movie cowboys, a "paper-doll" spoof of singers' costumes, hillbilly jazz, World War II, acceptable country pets (hound dogs, varmints, hawgs), country "vee-hickles," Nashville, the age of TV, the 1990s explosion of country sound, and much more. While poking fun at itself with a "country words" dictionary and a segment on "country hair," the book offers a vast amount of historical fact amid a multitude of caricatures of country stars. Some of the pages are quite dark, but the ever-changing backgrounds and fonts with colored-pencil and crayon illustrations carry an amazing variation of detail.
TCI LESSON 6: A BOAT AND BUS TOUR OF THE SOUTHEAST

I like this book but think it has a short list of people who would enjoy it. There are also some things that I did not particularly like about this book.The pictures are beautiful and it is also fun. I feel like it just went off track sometimes. It mentioned many older country artist and people who were involved with the evolution of country music. Then though sometimes they mentioned history and other types of music. I love that it tied in history of world events but wish it would have stuck to just country music as a whole.Throughout the book it would talk about music that originated from country music. For example,rock and roll and blues, those are totally different genres to me.I would probably read this to my class to give them a fun book to talk about the history in this book, such as the Great Depression and World War II. ( )

Since I love country music I loved this book! It had everything from the very early beginnings of country to singers I listen to today. I loved all of the art work in the book. I also loved all of the funny things that really relate to country music. Since I am from "the country" I think this would be a super fun book to share with my future students especially if I end up working in a city. The book would be great to use in a music or history class. ( )

Grades 4 and Up. "The Long Gone Lonesome History of Country Music" is a wonderfully funny caricature of the history of country music. In addition to history, the book includes some sketches of country stars and tongue-in-cheek guides to things like country pets, country vee-hickles, and country nicknames. The illustrations match the text wonderfully with their caricature style, and the book includes a guide to the country figures illustrated through out in the back. The text and illustrations are very layered and would be enjoyable to a country fan of any age. Recommended to all sizes of public libraries and elementary and some middle school libraries. ( )