Meet the Orchestra by Ann Hayes
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Book Reviews of Meet the Orchestra
Book Review: A wonderful book to instill interest in music for young readers.
Summary: 5 Stars
A delightful, beautifully illustrated book, wonderful for
children three years and older.
Stephen Halpern
Book Review: Great Book
Summary: 5 Stars
I really like the pictures and descriptions in this book! I know my students will like it and will be able to learn from it!Book Review: Instruments Galore.....
Summary: 4 Stars
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.Book Review: Good visual introduction to orchestral instruments for young children
Summary: 4 Stars
Large colorful pictures of animals,complete with formal wear, playing instruments. The illustrations are adorable. Besides the violinist raccoon on the front cover, imagine a tiger playing french horn, polar bear on bassoon, and an elephant holding cymbals.
Instruments are grouped by family, with several examples shown within each family. The author also gives a brief overview about what is unique to each instrument, and a written attempt at describing its tone. An example would be the description of the String Bass, "It is so tall that you must stand up or sit on a high stool to play it. When bowed, its low notes moan and groan."
I did notice that one instrument that was left out of the large pictures, although it was included in the final group illustration. The trombone. The bass drum and triangle are shown next to the cymbols in the large pictures, but without descriptions.
Overall, very cute. As a homeschooler, I could easily see using this to show young children the basic parts of an orchestra before listening to a symphony or going to a concert.
Book Review: Makes you wonder what might have been
Summary: 4 Stars
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.