ROAR-chestra!: A Wild Story of Musical Words

by Robert Heidbreder, Duýan Petricic (Illustrator)

An animated conductor and his orchestra of animals let the words move them in this engaging exploration of some beautiful and inspiring musical terms.In this simple introduction to seven musical terms, Robert Heidbreder's rhythmic poetry is paired with Duýan Petričić's exuberant illustrations to perfectly convey the terms' meanings. Each term is first featured on a spread beside an image of a conductor animatedly leading his (unseen) orchestra in alignment with the term. Turn the page, and we find a short line of text that provides a succinct physical definition of the term, along with expressive art showcasing the animal orchestra using movement to interpret the description. For glissando, we find: “Gently gliding, slipping, sliding,” with an image of animals flowing across the pages as if rolling on a wave. For fortissimo, the text reads, “Loudly crashing --- stomping, stamping,” while the animals are shown with their heads thrown back and their mouths wide open, roaring for all the world to hear. It's a performance so enticing, readers won't be able to resist joining in!This unique picture book provides an engaging and entertaining way for children to understand and remember the meanings of these common musical terms (all Italian and great fun to pronounce). But it is also sure to inspire readers to get up and move, following and mimicking the animals, or, perhaps, playing the conductor. An excellent choice for any unit on music, this book offers an accessible and effective way to learn musical terms as well as a fun opportunity to play with music.

Genres: Picture Books, Music, Animals, Storytime, Childrens, Juvenile, Nonfiction

32 pages, Hardcover

Published May 4, 2021

Reviews

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

ROAR-chestra! is a marvellous book that contains a lot of musical terms.

If you want to teach young kids all about the world of music, this is a great book to start! I always found musical theory boring when I was a kid, so a book like this would have been the perfect addition to our music classes and band practices. Allergro, staccato! So many ways to show musical terminology is an engaging way. Add in animals for even more fun, and you've got one winning book!

I enjoy the illustrations on top of the story. They are colourful and goofy, which is just how I'd like a book like this! Plus, there's also some descriptions on how to pronounce these words at the back too!

Four out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great first book on common musical terms! Fantastic art! Very innovative approach that I enjoyed very much. Getting children interested in music is so important; if you understand the terminology then I think you will be able to connect with music on a much deeper level. Easy to understand yet very informative.

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collectible! This one will make you sway and swing alongwith all the wild animals: chaotic fun, blissful moments and ending the read with a satisfying blooming happy face!

This one is just like watching a short animation movie. The fun is real and you will feel like you are being sucked into the fictional reality of the music being played in it.

The artist. Who are you???? You are so darn talented! All that effort is so worth making another person like me to dream a new dream.

One of the best story picture books ever!

Thank you, authors and the publisher for the advance reading copy.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well made children’s book music teachers will love using to teach music terms. The conductor expresses the meanings by his hand movements, animals act out the terms, and and action words tell the sounds.

[Cheriee Weichel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It will be released May 4, 2021 by Kids Can Press.

Robert Heidbreder & Dusan Petricic are masters of their craft. Never has learning musical terminology been full of so much joy.

It begins with bow tied animals of all sorts waiting while the human conductor arrives in front of them.

Then the conductor waves the baton to declare allegro!



And the creatures begin to move accordingly, "quickly, swiftly, race, run fly!"


Each time the conductor switches to a different tempo, the animals follow suit, and a new line of poetry captions it all. The piece moves along through adagio, glissando, staccato, dolce, fortissimo and pianissimo. Readers can almost imagine the music that accompanies each part.

I like that the conductor could be either gender. I appreciate the humour that Petričić integrates into the animal characters. I love the energy in Heidbreder's poetry. It's impossible to imagine a world where these words and images are not always together.

There are many ways to make this book interactive. I can imagine reading this to a group of children and have them guess what the term might mean based on the Conductor's baton movements. If the space is big enough children can move along with the animals. There is also the fun of figuring out which animal fits into each case.

The only quibble I have with this book is that it doesn't have music samples in it.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm… A book that pictorialises seven terms from classical music notation – and that's it. All the animals, from the crocodile to the gorilla to the bow-tied shark, are ready to do what the conductor wants, and we see the appropriate movement and noise-making of the most relevant beasties, whether he calls for adagio, dolce or glissando. There's no plot, there's no feeling this will lead to any further study, and I could see this gathering dust in school libraries, I'm afraid. If you definitely know you want to imbue a child with music reading and that they're a pictorial learner, this is a first step – but you'd have quickly moved ahead of this lesson, it seems to me.

[Jeanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dramatic play of 7 musical words with the roar of zoo animals. The Italian words for brisk and lively, slowly, gliding, sliding, short, detached, sweetly, softly, loudly, and quietly will engage children. A great introduction for children to the life of music.

A Special thank you Kids Can Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

[Roxana · Rating 5 out of 5]

ROAR-chestra! is a fabulous little picture book that combines fun-to-read, rhythmic and rhyming text with gorgeously dynamic illustrations to explain musical terminology to the young reader. I love the use of animal activity to describe what each term should mean, like bouncing staccato and stampeding fortissimo. The illustrations remind me of my favorite old picture books from my own childhood, and I especially enjoy the touch of the little orchestral bowties on each creature. A charming and delightful introduction to musical language for the little ones!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for the advance review copy.

[Gabrielle Stoller · Rating 2 out of 5]

As someone who knows music and musical terms, I loved seeing animals "depict" the words shared. I mean animals stampeding to show "allergro?" It's genius right?

It does NOT work in storytime and that is okay. I think this audience is honestly great for a music teacher!

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would be an excellent resource fir elementary school music teachers.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Musical terms demonstrated by an animal “orchestra”, very cute!

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a unique and clever way to acquaint kids with 7 musical terms: allegro, adagio, glissando, staccato, dolce, fortissimo, and pianissimo. On one page, the conductor uses his baton to demonstrate the term, and on the next double page spread, a group of animals hilariously demonstrate the term.

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a bit disappointed by the artwork, but the text is great, and I am looking forward to finding just the right music and using this for a very special storytime!

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed digital review copies of this book through NetGalley and Edelweiss.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A skilled conductor leads groups of wild animals demonstrating the different musical terms. In the original Italian, where the conductor shows what leading it would look like, then turn the page and the adorable animals sing, slide, float, rest - whatever the English description of the term looks like.

The illustrations are the best part - lots of animals, most wearing formal bow ties - they are an orchestra after all. What a fun way to introduce musical terms to beginning band and orchestra students. I would be tempted to buy 2 copies and post the pages around the room. Delightful, fun and educational. Loved it!

Cross posted to http://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful book is perfect for introducing some of the basic words used by the instrumentalists in the orchestra. It is cleverly devised to show different animals that match the action words. The author uses sleeping animals to show the concept of the word adagio and animals that can move swiftly to portray allegro. The illustrations are fun to look at and clearly show how the animal's movements match the Italian word.

I highly recommend this delightful book for the classroom and home. Although recommended for ages 3 to 7, I think most Elementary students would enjoy it.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has musical terms with a picture of a composer, and then what it means with a picture of animals demonstrating. The terms are allegro, adagio, glissando, staccato, dolce, fortissimo and pianissimo. The last two were my kids' favorites. With fortissimo- "Loudly crashing, roaring, stamping!" And the picture has louder animals likely with digital coloring but pen hashings and strokes for details. They each chose an animal to roar or be loud and then I conducted "fortissimo" and "pianissimo". They had a lot of fun practicing their loud and soft.

[Teresa Grabs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! This introduction to basic music terms is wonderfully illustrated and cute. Kids learning about music for the first time will find the illustrations engaging and memorable. Each member of the roar-chestra is full of personality and demonstrates the musical term in perfect timing.

Thank you NetGalley and Kids Can Press for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

[Alissa Tsaparikos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful exploration of musical terms using giggle worthy illustrations to make the point. This would be excellent for a music themed storytime as it is simple and fun and nearly begs for audience participation. Backmatter includes the definition of terms used, though the pages themselves do a great job of this, as well as an explanation for why the terms are Italian.

[Emilee (emileereadsbooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Kids Can Press for a free digital copy for my review.

With inventive illustrations that include an appropriately dramatic conductor and animals going all out to portray what the musical terms mean, children will really absorb the musical terms portrayed in this book.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a teacher, I immediately see the value in this book when teaching younger students different musical terms. The animals are a great way to illustrate what each term means. I spent a long time examining each animal and how they represented each musical term. The conductor is cute too!

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great illustrations but there isn't a story. Certain young readers will enjoy the lyrical narrative but others may found the book a little boring.

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a fan of this cover, but I love the illustrations inside the book. This is a graphical illustration of various musical instructions like Allegro which means quickly and swiftly. It was a lot of fun and a must read for any kid studying how to play an instrument.

[Amanda Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for introducing tough musical terms to young children. I recommend it for all music teachers and elementary libraries. It's also fun for everyone because the brilliant illustrations and alliteration and onomatopoeia make it a good read-aloud.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darling! The book illustrates certain musical terms by showing pictures of animals acting out the terms (staccato, glissando, fortissimo, etc). Great for music teachers teaching young children or for a music themed storytime.

[Natalie Tate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure quite who this book is for. It has no plot and it doesn't have enough music terms and explanations to be a useful dictionary. Could be great if it were greatly expanded. As is, this book is a disappointing offering.

[Tompkins County Public Library Youth Services]

Kelly’s Thoughts: The summary says it beautifully. As someone who grew up with music and thoroughly enjoyed playing in various configurations all through grade school, my only comment is: I LOVE THIS BOOOOOK!!!! 😊

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever and engaging concept to teach musical vocabulary. Some of the illustrations seemed quite similar to one another, and I wonder if kids would truly grasp the differences without further explanation or demonstration. But lovely overall.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an e-ARC of this from the publisher through Edelweiss+.

This is an interesting and approachable way to introduce younger children to musical terms.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book for kids who learn music, or simply curious minds. This is one of my problems: I tend to mixed up the musical terms. And this book helps to remind me that pianissimo is softly, for example.