Meet the Orchestra

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!

A delightful, beautifully illustrated book, wonderful for children three years and older. Stephen Halpern

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.

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.

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.