Meet The Orchestra Read Free Books and Download eBooks
This lyrical romp through the orchestra begins with animal musicians slowly gathering for the evening performance. Poetic descriptions suggest the sounds of the instruments, and lively watercolor illustrations capture the playful essence of each musician and musical instrument. “It’s a smashing introduction to classical music, and a must prior to a first visit to the symphony.”--Publishers Weekly
Lexile Measure: AD720L (What's this?)
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (March 27, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0152002227
ISBN-13: 978-0152002220
Product Dimensions: 11 x 0.1 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #121,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #13 in Books > Children's Books > Arts, Music & Photography > Music > Classical #38 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Instrumentation > Orchestra #6191 in Books > Children's Books > Animals
Age Range: 4 - 7 years
Grade Level: Preschool - 3
There are not a lot of books about orchestras that are aimed at young children. This book does a few things really well. The illustrations are wonderful, and depict animals buying their tickets and getting seated, playing realistic-looking instruments, and going home. The illustrations get five stars. The text falls off a bit, and demonstrates a problem describing music with words. To say that an instrument sounds "blue" really doesn't say much. The text gets three stars. What is just maddening is that publishers can crank out any number of cartoon character books, with buttons along the side, that make an assortment of sounds. Why then can't some publisher use the same technology to give a brief sample of what the instruments sound like? I read this book, and I think of how it could have been so much better.
My twin sons cherished this book from the time they were two years old. We have gone through six paperback copies (each insisted on having his own); my boys shared it with everyone they saw, and they even slept with it! They love the clever and colorful pictures, and the short verses describing each instrument capture each instruments' special sound and qualities better than any other children's book I have seen. I played my kids symphonic recordings and a videotape (Bernstein conducting Beethoven's 9th) along with this book, and at age three they could easily identify all of the instruments by sight and sound.
Meet the orchestra and all the fabulous instruments that come together to make such wonderful sounds, from the strings that are bowed or plucked, to the woodwinds and brass instruments that you blow air into, to the percussion section where instruments are "beaten, banged, dinged, and pinged." Author Ann Hayes takes you on a marvelous and intriguing journey through the orchestra, describing each section, instrument, and sound in simple, engaging and evocative language. Youngsters will almost be able to hear the low notes of the string bass moan and groan, the sadness of saying good-bye to someone you love when the oboe is played, flags flying and soldiers marching with the notes of the trumpet, and the flash of lightning when the cymbals crash. Unfortunately, Karen Thompson's illustrations are not equal to the text and are a bit dull and uninspired as you see page after page of expressionless animals, dressed in concert garb, holding instruments. Perfect for preschoolers, Meet The Orchestra is a lovely and gentle, read aloud introduction to musical instruments and their sounds the whole family can share together, and should peak the interest of budding little musicians everywhere.
Don't have the luxury of taking kids to a symphony? This book is the best choice for introducing kids to classical music and will give them graphic insight into the joy of an evening with an orchestra. The conductor's role is even explained and each orchestra instrument is clearly identified (without skewing all the attention to strings). The author's descriptions of the sounds from each instrument are delightfully descriptive. The focus floats from timpani to woodwinds and brass. Don't take a kid to a concert hall without reading this book to 'em first.
The book is a great way of introducing music and musical instruments to children.The illustrations are wonderful!The animals are precious. For someone who would like to honor a musician in some way,this book would be a great book to do so.
My daughters really like this book. They love the different animals and instruments. I love the words and descriptions they use while talking about what each instrument does and sounds like. I only wish they had a cassette tape that went along with it to introduce the sounds of the instruments as well.
I don't have any children, so maybe I'm being too picky with this book but I felt the string section was covered nicely. The Violin, Viola, Cello, and string bass all were discussed. When it came to woodwinds, flute, piccolo, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, and bass clarinet were all shown (they seem to have forgotten saxophone may be more common than oboe.) . The brass section was empty only showcasing French Horn, Trumpet, and Tuba...leaving out euphonium or baritone, cornet, trombone. Basically that brings me to me to my point, the brass section of the book was bad...
I bought this book to read to my little grandson. Being a professional trombonist, I was shocked to find that there is absolutely no mention of the trombone. This is inexcusable--do not buy this book if you want a comprehensive book about the symphony orchestra.
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