Bach's Big Adventure Author:Sallie Ketcham, Timothy Bush (Illustrator) From School Library Journal — K-Gr-3A childhood reminiscence is the basis for this brief picture-book look at the youthful exuberance of Johann Sebastian Bach. The proud and boastful prodigy sets out to hear Jan Adam Reincken, a master organist, to see if he really is a better musician than the boy himself. When the determined Bach finally reache... more »s the church and listens to the talented man, he is humbled but confident that he may still, one day, be the greatest organist in all of Germany and the world. This is an interesting and humorous glimpse into the early life of a musical master, but it lacks the depth and warmth of Barbara Nichols Beethoven Lives Upstairs (Orchard, 1994). There is no empathy created for the haughty young Bach and the text is overly descriptive at times. The pastel, watercolor cartoon drawings are sprightly, serviceable caricatures, but the bits of text imposed over some of the illustrations are distracting. For students writing reports, standard biographies will supply the facts. This is an additional purchase where fictionalized versions have an audience.« less