Books by Mary Richards

Listen to the Music is a narrative non fiction trip through the history of music, complete with 10, 10-second sound clips of the world's best loved, era defining pieces from baroque to bebop.

A history of the world told through the prism of language, from Shakespeare to Anne Frank, Martin Luther King to Greta Thunberg. A History of Words for Children explores the uniquely human ability to transfer thoughts from one brain to another using words. Written in a lively narrative style, the book presents a history of the world and human development through the prism of language, introducing readers to the civilisations, inventions and wordsmiths who have shaped the way we communicate. Divided into themed chapters, the book explores what words are and how humans communicate using spoken language and sign; the development of written scripts and writing implements, including paper; the history of manuscripts and printed books, including worldwide bestsellers and famous libraries; the process of learning another language; dialects and accents and the way language can reflect our identity; the power of words to calm, inspire, rally crowds and rule nations; graffiti's role in spreading messages; codes and invented languages; the patterns of poetry; the future of words, including emojis; and languages facing extinction.

A global history of music for children that celebrates how and why we make music.

Make every museum trip a new adventure!

Mary Richards is author of The Modern Art Journal (Tate Publishing), Splat: The Most Exciting Artists of All Time (Thames & Hudson) and co-author of ArtSongs, a set of songs about art and artists (with David Schweitzer) for Tate. Mary was Art Publisher at the Hayward Gallery and a Project Editor at Tate Publishing. She lives in London with four children, two cats and a large collection of Lego