Meet the Orchestra

by Ann Hayes, Karmen Thompson (Illustrator)

This lyrical romp through the orchestra begins with animal musicians slowly gathering for the evening performance. Poetic descriptions suggest the sounds of the instruments, and lively watercolor illustrations capture the playful essence of each musician and musical instrument. “It’s a smashing introduction to classical music, and a must prior to a first visit to the symphony.”--Publishers Weekly

Genres: Music, Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction, Animals, Art

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're planning on taking your child to their first symphony performance, here's a great book to read before going. Nice introductions of each instrument, with creative descriptions of their sounds will help your child identify and appreciate their experience more!

Ages: 4 - 8

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[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and educational, but my four-year-old wouldn't sit through it. No story.

[Cordelia L · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book opened up so much conversation for my toddler and me. Each page describes a different instrument. There are beautiful illustrations of animals with their orchestra instruments. After reading this book, we watched a video of a conductor introducing each of these instruments. This is a great book to read over and over with your toddler.

[Kristian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeously illustrated and with lyrical prose that you won't mind reading. Also probably the best introduction to the instruments that we have read. It doesn't come with sound bites like some other music themed books do, but has great explinations of instrument families and how they sound without getting too bogged down in words.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read just a page or two per day during morning time, and then looked up a YouTube video of whatever instrument we just read about. The kids really enjoyed it. The descriptions of the sounds of the instruments was a bit too flowery for me, but we loved the drawings of different animals playing music, and it was a great jumping off point to introduce the various instruments in an orchestra.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I cannot stand animals in clothing, especially if the males wear no pants. Otherwise this is a decent catalog.

For bass clarinet, an instrument I had not yet met: "This very long clarinet is bent at both ends so that it doesn't touch the floor when played. Its low, slow notes may remind you of clouds drifting across the moon or a snake swaying to a snake charmers music."

[T · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of animals playing instruments makes it a fun variable in this book. A great way to introduce some strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. After each reading we let kiddo select a short show featuring whatever instrument of choice to cement the sound and visual connection.

[CreateEveryday Classroom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still think this is the best book on an introduction to the families of the orchestra

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that introduces elementary students to various instruments.

[Asher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the page with all of the animals in an orchestra together.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introductory book to orchestras!

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

8/25/21 Read with Julia

[Melissa Namba · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love books like this that introduce the reader to the bits and pieces of a fine tuned group. Its a little wordy though for young kids and they may not pay attention.

[Pink Leaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect!

[Scarlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this book with 2.5 year old after several sittings. I used the book as a map to guide us through. I looked each instrument up on YouTube then would read the excerpt from the book.

[Maren Prestegaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maren thought the animals playing the instruments were creepy. A great book but a miss for us.

[Maggie Panning · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have owned this book for ages, but just finally got around to reading it to my son, I kept thinking that he maybe wasn't old enough for a book about different instruments. But, had I read a little of it I would have seen that the way the instruments are presented is an easy and beautiful way for young children to be introduced. For example it says about the clarinet, "It tootles up and down the scale, never tripping over a note. It's cool tones melt in your ears just like ice cream melts in your mouth." This description led him to say that he might like to play the clarinet someday and that he wanted to hear it played. So, I found some Spotify playlists to listen to and I pulled up a YouTube video of Pokey LaFarge and his band playing Sadie Green with Chloe Feoranzo on clarinet. This song is everything I love about clarinet, and it shows a side of it I never from the clarinet players in my high school band. This is exactly what a good non-fiction picture book can do, inspire you to explore further. I would recommend this to any young child with even a small amount of interest in music, of any kind.

[Saskia Marijke Niehorster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an introduction to the different musical instruments in an orchestra. Not only does it describe the family the instrument belongs to ( Strings, wind, percussion, etc)but it also explains the placement of the instrument within the family and the reason for that order. It describes the sounds it creates by evoking different sounds out in nature or in our surrounding environment.

The drawings are so fun and quite well rendered. The musicians are different animals and they are done with watercolors in a marvelous manner that adds interest to the instruments they play.

We have had this book since 1996, when we bought it on our first wedding anniversary in Block Island, Rhode Island for our little son Sasha. It must have been quite a good influence since now he plays the viola in his own civic orchestra!

[A. J · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was visiting my family during the summer I was able to read a couple of kid's lit books, and this was one of them. I was actually so excited to find this book because I remembered loving it as a child. 

Rereading it as an adult was so fun. This book is a really simple but beautiful look at the orchestra. It's really easy to read, both for kids and for adults reading to children. It's not repetitive in anyway. As it goes through each instrument it gives a small description of the instruments sounds, and is followed by a beautiful drawing. 

As a young teen I remember reading this book to my younger siblings, and it was from this book that I was inspired to try and learn to play the cello. Sadly I was never able to play cello for long, but it's still a happy memory. Someday I hope it inspires my own children. 

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the first picture books concerning music that I used to teach writing. It is engaging and gives students a creative way of understanding the variety of instruments in a orchestra. I haven't used it in a while because there are more and more picture books available that focus on sound and music. I need to review it again to see if I still find it to be a useful mentor text.

[LeAndra Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a must have to read aloud. It makes a great introduction to learning about instruments, and could be used in a music class to talk about different kinds of instruments. It might be harder for younger students to read independently, but the language used is very descriptive and will keep the attention of young readers.

[Virginia Franklyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a great introduction to the orchestra and it's instruments for the lower grades. My 7 year old loved that there were animals playing the instruments. It helped her better absorb the information. She is learning the cello and loved that a koala plays it in the book. Overall, very well presented, fun, and informative.

[Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea is good, except that it a little dry and there si no CD to accompany it so the kids can hear the different instruments. If it had a CD it would be great! *I'd rather my kids gain a full experience (like Zin zin Zin or some other books)

[forthefamilyssake Hailey White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect to introduce the orchestra instruments to young readers. Ages 0-6. My 8 year old enjoyed it as a read-a-loud, but never picked it up again. I do think a CD with musical examples would be a great addition. Loved the animal illustrations.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get to know the animals and instruments of the orchestra. This book introduces you to the instruments in a bouncy way. Good read aloud with great picutes good read alone for third to forth grade.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading Rainbow: Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin
Cute illustrations - probably fine with young children that don't know instruments. We didn't get much from it.

[Brigette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the illustrations of this book. My daughters and I had great conversations about how the instruments sound.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to the instruments of the orchestra. Read for CC1 wk#19..krb 3/2/16

[Giselle]

eh