Meet the Orchestra

My toddler had been drawn to music and especially instruments from a very young age, and quickly outgrew books on the subject aimed at toddlers. I bought this one hoping I could satisfy his curiosity further. This quickly became his favorite book!The illustrations are lovely, which makes it a joy to read for me. Each page depicts an animal playing an instrument, with a paragraph or two about each instrument. Some of the paragraph is factual (such as using a reed to play, or having a folded tube shape, or playing high notes) and some of it is more lyrical, using imagery to describe what the sound might remind you of. They are introduced grouped by families, followed by a page on the conductor. There is only one page actually describing the performance itself, but that was not a problem for us, as my son’s interest was in the instruments themselves. The audience and musicians arriving and the orchestra and everyone leaving are used as a frame in which to place each of the descriptions of the instruments. It was perfect for us! He reads it over and over and can name and tell me details of every instrument, and I learned a lot too!

Adorable illustrations of the animal orchestra. Realistic pictures of each instrument of an orchestra. Simple clear text describing how the instrument is played, held, and describes how it sounds. Gives the reader the feeling of being in the audience of an orchestral concert. You learn the families of the instruments-such as the string family, woodwinds, percussion, and brass instruments. Purchased for a three year old and he loved seeing and learning about the different instruments. I also found the sounds of each instrument on my phone to give an example of how each instrument sounds.

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.

This is a great book especially if you are homeschooling young kids. Honestly, I found it interesting and I liked how each instrument is described so that young children can appreciate the instruments and the sounds they make. Add your own flair and voila! Instant music appreciation class.

This is one of my 2 1/2 year old son's favorite books. He has a special fondness for the page about the piccolo and the page about the tuba. For kids interested in music, this deserves a place on the bookshelf. The pictures are very well done, and the words are informative without being too wordy. How well will it hold someone's interest? Depends on the kid. My son loves the book, and wants to hear it over and over and over. My niece (she's six) couldn't sit through one reading.

This book is a helpful and enjoyable way to learn about the various types of instruments. I learned quite a bit about different instruments. The pictures are funny with different animals playing the instruments. Our children loved the pictures, but they were probably a bit too distracted by the pictures. Also, many of the sounds are described in an poetic way that is not very objective in my opinion.

This is a lovely book which I use in my kindergarten and first grade music classes. However, the version for Kindle is completely worthless as it is pictures of the pages and so the pictures and text are too small to be usable. It was a waste of money. Buy the hard copy and you will be pleased.

Nice pix. I'd prefer the text to be a little lighter, more accessible for small children, maybe some cute little rhymes. But it's nice to have a picture of instruments and orchestra players that are animals.

I already owned a book which one of my friends in Canada sent me a few years ago. I decided to order another one because my son fell in love with French Horn at the school orchestra club. This book describes each instruments concisely enough for small kids to understand. Illustrate are beautifully done and I simply love this picture book!