What do you think?
Rate this book
Bantam of the Opera
Luigi the rooster wins fame and fortune when the star of the Cosmopolitan Opera Company and his understudy both come down with chicken pox on the same night.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1997
2 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Mary Jane Auch
48 books70 followersMary Jane Auch also writes as MJ Auch.
The thought of becoming a writer never occurred to MJ Auch as a child. Her only literary efforts in those days were the plays which she and her girlfriend, Noreen, wrote for their marionettes. They produced these extravaganzas in Noreen’s garage and organized the neighborhood boys into a sales force to sell tickets and refreshments.
Summer visits to both of MJ’s grandmothers led to her fascination with chickens. One grandmother had a small backyard flock and the other grandmother and two bachelor uncles had a large farm that supplied eggs to half of Long Island. MJ learned that a flock of chickens had almost the same range of personalities that could be found in a classroom, from the quiet, shy chicken to the big bully.
MJ loved books and read constantly. She wrote stories, drawn in comic book style with speech balloons for the dialog. Her interest in drawing continued through high school, and she went on to become an art major at Skidmore College. After graduation, MJ headed for New York City to seek fame and fortune, but after a year of designing prints for men's pajamas, she decided she wanted to do something more meaningful with her life. She enrolled in the Occupational Therapy program at Columbia University, which led to some wonderful years of working in a children's hospital near Hartford, Connecticut.
On a brief stop home to visit her parents before transferring to a new job in Denver, she met Herm Auch, a graphic artist and editorial cartoonist for the Rochester newspaper. It was love at first sight, and MJ never made it to Denver. They were married in 1967 and within a few years had produced a daughter, Katrin and a son, Ian. They moved from the city to a small farm, complete with chickens, ducks, and geese. Armed with a huge collection of Mother Earth News and absolutely no practical experience, they tackled farm life with gusto, gaining much comedy material for books MJ’s future books.
As the children grew older, MJ began to look for work in her original field of art. Like Jenna's mother in Mom Is Dating Weird Wayne, she had a brief stint as a “zit zapper” at a school picture factory. Then she started illustrating for Pennywhistle Press, a national children's newspaper, and this sparked her interest in illustrating children’s books.
In the summer of 1984, MJ took a week-long children's writing conference on Cape Cod. She tried to write a picture book manuscript to take to the conference, but instead found herself writing a middle-grade novel. When her instructor, Natalie Babbitt, told of starting out as an artist and finding she could paint better pictures with words, something clicked. MJ finally knew that she wanted to a writer.
She started sending manuscripts to publishers, writing four full-length novels before she sold the first one. Then she sold a second book to another publisher that same week. It had taken two years and thirteen rejections, but MJ had finally reached her goal!mShe continued writing books for older kids and abandoned her dream of illustrating for a while. Then, after nine books, she wrote and illustrated The Easter Egg Farm. This set in motion a series of picture books featuring poultry involved in the arts.
The Auchs have now become a family of artists. Their children are grown and pursuing art careers of their own. Kat, a graphic artist, is now working as Associate Art Director for Scrapbook Answers Magazine in San Francisco. Ian has been a graphic artist and 3-D animator and is now Assistant New Media Editor for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper. Ian is also a metal artist and created the chicken-sized beauty parlor chair for [b:Beauty and the Beaks|1918127|Beaut
The thought of becoming a writer never occurred to MJ Auch as a child. Her only literary efforts in those days were the plays which she and her girlfriend, Noreen, wrote for their marionettes. They produced these extravaganzas in Noreen’s garage and organized the neighborhood boys into a sales force to sell tickets and refreshments.
Summer visits to both of MJ’s grandmothers led to her fascination with chickens. One grandmother had a small backyard flock and the other grandmother and two bachelor uncles had a large farm that supplied eggs to half of Long Island. MJ learned that a flock of chickens had almost the same range of personalities that could be found in a classroom, from the quiet, shy chicken to the big bully.
MJ loved books and read constantly. She wrote stories, drawn in comic book style with speech balloons for the dialog. Her interest in drawing continued through high school, and she went on to become an art major at Skidmore College. After graduation, MJ headed for New York City to seek fame and fortune, but after a year of designing prints for men's pajamas, she decided she wanted to do something more meaningful with her life. She enrolled in the Occupational Therapy program at Columbia University, which led to some wonderful years of working in a children's hospital near Hartford, Connecticut.
On a brief stop home to visit her parents before transferring to a new job in Denver, she met Herm Auch, a graphic artist and editorial cartoonist for the Rochester newspaper. It was love at first sight, and MJ never made it to Denver. They were married in 1967 and within a few years had produced a daughter, Katrin and a son, Ian. They moved from the city to a small farm, complete with chickens, ducks, and geese. Armed with a huge collection of Mother Earth News and absolutely no practical experience, they tackled farm life with gusto, gaining much comedy material for books MJ’s future books.
As the children grew older, MJ began to look for work in her original field of art. Like Jenna's mother in Mom Is Dating Weird Wayne, she had a brief stint as a “zit zapper” at a school picture factory. Then she started illustrating for Pennywhistle Press, a national children's newspaper, and this sparked her interest in illustrating children’s books.
In the summer of 1984, MJ took a week-long children's writing conference on Cape Cod. She tried to write a picture book manuscript to take to the conference, but instead found herself writing a middle-grade novel. When her instructor, Natalie Babbitt, told of starting out as an artist and finding she could paint better pictures with words, something clicked. MJ finally knew that she wanted to a writer.
She started sending manuscripts to publishers, writing four full-length novels before she sold the first one. Then she sold a second book to another publisher that same week. It had taken two years and thirteen rejections, but MJ had finally reached her goal!mShe continued writing books for older kids and abandoned her dream of illustrating for a while. Then, after nine books, she wrote and illustrated The Easter Egg Farm. This set in motion a series of picture books featuring poultry involved in the arts.
The Auchs have now become a family of artists. Their children are grown and pursuing art careers of their own. Kat, a graphic artist, is now working as Associate Art Director for Scrapbook Answers Magazine in San Francisco. Ian has been a graphic artist and 3-D animator and is now Assistant New Media Editor for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper. Ian is also a metal artist and created the chicken-sized beauty parlor chair for [b:Beauty and the Beaks|1918127|Beaut
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 19, 2009
Mommy says: Auch has rewritten a number of fairy tales from a chicken's perspective. In Bantam of the Opera, as in her other books, Auch heavily loads the narrative with poultry puns. It went beyond annoying to downright distracting, to the point where I refuse to read any more of her books. Argh!
July 31, 2018
Luigi, a rooster, knows he was born for more than just a cock-a-doodle-doo. His singing, however, is unpopular with the other roosters. So, Luigi goes on long walks, so he can sing. One night he hears Rigoletto on the radio and the next night, he stows away in a pickup headed for town and a night at the opera. Joining the Cosmopolitan Opera Company, starring Enrico Baldini and Carlotta Tetrazzini, becomes Luigi’s dream. Naturally, Enrico doesn’t want a rival, so Luigi must disguise himself as the phantom. But when Enrico and the understudy (Romeo Manicotti) both come down with chicken pox, it is Luigi who takes on the starring role with great aplomb.
Great fun!
Great fun!
July 16, 2018
This was cute... but I'm not sure that kids would like it? I've been very up-front about how I have not worked with young kids, so I completely admit that I am clueless. But I feel like this book... I mean, maybe they'd just like that it's silly. "A rooster who wants to sing opera? Funny!" But... it's trying to be more and falls flat for me.
December 26, 2018
A cute story about never giving ip on your dreams...even if your just a rooster who dreams of being an opera singer.
October 17, 2016
Hilarious. I LOVE Luigi!!!
February 1, 2016
I found this entirely by accident while I was getting ready for storytime today. Whether or not you like picture books (or more to the point, I suppose, whether or not you have a little person in your life who is the right age for picture books), I think we can all agree that a story about an operatic rooster disguising himself to pursue his true calling is worth the read. This would make a great read aloud for the preschool crowd, because there's a plot twist at the end that younger readers might not catch. The cinematic, darker-toned illustrations also lend themselves to an older read-aloud crowd.
April 30, 2008
Kids and adults will crow from delight over witty illustrations and alliterative text in this poultry tale of how Luigi the rooster chases his dreams.
CIP: Luigi the rooster wins fame and fortune when the star of the Cosmopolitan Opera Company and his understudy both come down the the chicken pox on the came night.
"It will bring down the house with every repeat performance." School Library Journal
CIP: Luigi the rooster wins fame and fortune when the star of the Cosmopolitan Opera Company and his understudy both come down the the chicken pox on the came night.
"It will bring down the house with every repeat performance." School Library Journal
April 20, 2011
I took our girls to the library for a children's program that featured the opera of Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck. It was their first experience with opera, and the first time I'd ever heard an opera singer up close (they can sing very loudly!) The library had several books about opera on display and our girls chose this book. It was an interesting story, although a bit strange. The illustrations are comical and the story is fun to read aloud.
November 21, 2019
A good message about dreams and chasing them, with big, clear, and silly illustrations good for an audience. Plenty of poultry puns, which do add to the story somewhat, but also can cross into annoying territory - depends on your mood I guess. A little too much text for a younger storytime audience, but the older kids might enjoy it. I'd pull it out for a storytime on chickens, music/opera/singing, or goals/dreams.
August 3, 2007
Hilarious illustrations and lots of action make this story of passion and resilience a favourite in our family (Or maybe it’s just the hilarity of Mom & Dad trying to sing La Donna e mobile).
Listen to our chat about this book on our JustOneMoreBook.com Children's Book Podcast:
http://www.justonemorebook.com/2006/0...
Listen to our chat about this book on our JustOneMoreBook.com Children's Book Podcast:
http://www.justonemorebook.com/2006/0...
May 12, 2015
Fourth grade +.
Luigi, the singing rooster, wins fame and fortune when the star of the Cosmopolitan Opera Company and his understudy both come down with the chicken pox on the same night.
Fantastic pictures! A humorous tale. Some tough vocabulary that might have to be explained before reading. Wonderful sound words and plays on words. (Do children today know what chicken pox is?)
Luigi, the singing rooster, wins fame and fortune when the star of the Cosmopolitan Opera Company and his understudy both come down with the chicken pox on the same night.
Fantastic pictures! A humorous tale. Some tough vocabulary that might have to be explained before reading. Wonderful sound words and plays on words. (Do children today know what chicken pox is?)
May 13, 2009
If I ever see this book in a store I will buy it. It's pretty funny. I especially loved singing the rooster parts while my husband was nearby. He kept shaking his head like I was a moron but I had fun & Ethan loved it when I was singing opera. ;)
What a super cute book!
What a super cute book!
June 11, 2008
hilarious.
March 29, 2012
A text-heavy picture book with talking chickens...mildly entertaining, and I agree with another reviewer - too punny.
August 6, 2016
Fun. For Mom.
November 21, 2012
Luigi, a Bantam Rooster, is a singer in his soul and believes there is more to crow than "Cock-a-doodle-doo"!
thems: dreams, farms, music, opera, roosters
thems: dreams, farms, music, opera, roosters
December 13, 2012
This book is heavy on the chicken puns, yes. But it is also cute, and funny. I think it's a very good book for all ages!
July 30, 2013
The bantaaaam of the opera is there...inside your mind. Purty illustrations!
April 24, 2014
Fun story about a rooster dreaming of the opera. Big dreams for a little rooster ... but he has his heart set on it!
February 20, 2015
3.75 Stars A cute book about a Rooster who wants to sing opera. Cute pictures, great story about following your dreams...even if you are a rooster.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews