Music surrounds us. Whether it is something we have chosen for ourselves from our own personal playlist or the music – or should that be muzak – that bombards us when we shop. We can enjoy music as part of an audience or we can make music ourselves, perhaps playing an instrument or even more personally using our own voice; you do not have to be a diva, singing is something that comes naturally.

How does music translate onto the page – not as a score with the coded symbols to be unlocked by musicians – but as words? How do authors and illustrators rise to this challenge? How important is it for music to be present in the written text? These are some of the themes touched on in this latest IBBYLink as our contributors explore an often personal response to music and writing.

Janelle Mathis opens proceedings in an article that looks at the way literature and music – each a language – are linked contextually, aesthetically and through the recognition that both are processed through the same cognitive skills and abilities. They are interconnected in so many ways that are not immediately recognised but both are universal and intercultural. Words are sounds and sounds lead to music – as Janelle Mathis points out ‘Literature is a well-matched vehicle to encourage the intercultural role of music for young literacy learners.’

And not just interculturally around the world but across the ages as Kevin Crossley-Holland shows in his novel Gatty’s Tale. Here he reflects on how much music, so important to him personally, has pervaded the narrative just as it would have pervaded life in the Middle Ages – not recorded music but the music that comes from the voice as an instrument, music that uses words.