This interactive workshop explores a creative and inclusive approach to building music literacy, using children’s storybooks from diverse cultures and languages as a foundation. Grounded in Bruner’s three stages of cognitive development (1966)—enactive, iconic, and symbolic—participants will be guided through a scaffolded process that connects language, story, and music.We will engage in active music-making, beginning with responding to stories through sound and movement (enactive). From there, participants will create their own unique iconic notation systems to represent their musical ideas (iconic), effectively leveraging students’ prior knowledge and individual strengths. The workshop will then explore how these systems can serve as a bridge to understanding traditional, formalized music notation (symbolic).This approach creates multiple entry points for all learners, including students with disabilities, by utilizing a familiar medium: children’s storybooks (Hammel & Hourigan, 2017). By beginning with children's literature, a resource that students, parents, and teachers can relate to, we can effectively engage participants in foundational music literacy concepts such as non-traditional notation, composition, and orchestration (Broomhead, 2021; McCusker, 2007).While the workshop is focused on the elementary and middle school music classroom, participants will have the opportunity to discuss and adapt these strategies for various ages and ability levels. Additionally, we will explore the application of these concepts to books in different languages, reflecting the diverse cultures of the conference attendees. Participants will leave with a practical framework and new ideas for fostering music literacy through the power of storybooks.