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The Philharmonic Gets Dressed
"It is almost Friday night. Outside, the dark is getting darker," and here and there around the city ninety-two men and thirteen women are getting dressed to go to work. First they bathe and put on their underwear. Then they don special black-and-white apparel. Then when the one hundred and five people are completely ready, each takes a musical instrument and travels to midtown. There, at 8:30 tonight, they will work together: playing.
In these pages Karla Kuskin and Marc Simont combine their talents to give us a delightful and unusual inside view of one way an orchestra prepares.
Nominee, 1983 American Book Award
Notable Children's Books of 1983 (ALA)
1983 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
Outstanding Children's Books of 1982 (NYT)
A Reading Rainbow Selection
1983 Teachers' Choices (NCTE)
Children's Books of 1982 (Library of Congress)
In these pages Karla Kuskin and Marc Simont combine their talents to give us a delightful and unusual inside view of one way an orchestra prepares.
Nominee, 1983 American Book Award
Notable Children's Books of 1983 (ALA)
1983 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
Outstanding Children's Books of 1982 (NYT)
A Reading Rainbow Selection
1983 Teachers' Choices (NCTE)
Children's Books of 1982 (Library of Congress)
48 pages, Paperback
First published September 21, 1982
About the author
Karla Kuskin
59 books13 followersKarla Kuskin was an author and illustrator of children's literature, as well as a frequent reviewer of books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
December 25, 2018
Written by the late Karla Kuskin and lavishly, humorously illustrated by Marc Simont, this rather lengthy picture book shows the hundred and five members of an urban philharmonic orchestra preparing to go to work on a Friday night. Interspersed with gentle humour, The Philharmonic Gets Dressed depicts the preparations the members of the philharmonic go through before the start of a public performance (washing, dressing, traveling to the orchestra hall, last minute practicing) and also shows and demonstrates that at a time of day, when most people are settling in for a night at home with their family and friends, the workday of the musicians is barely starting.
Now although as a general concept, I have indeed quite enjoyed The Philharmonic Gets Dressed and do simply absolutely and totally adore Marc Simont's accompanying illustrations, I would have to agree with my GR friend Lisa that Karla Kuskin's presented text does unfortunately have the tendency to feel rather ploddingly pedestrian and as such it does not really measure up all that well to the descriptive and in all ways oh so wonderful illustrations, and in fact so much so that I think I would probably prefer The Philharmonic Gets Dressed with just the illustrations, as a wordless picture book (which is kind of majorly strange for me, as I do not as a rule tend to like worldless picture books all that much). But Marc Simont's illustrations are truly and in fact evocative and detailed enough in and of themselves to engender many different and interesting anecdotes, stories both humorous and serious, and I kind of feel that Karla Kuskin's narrative actually somewhat limits Simont's excellent pictorial images and does not do them nearly enough justice.
And finally, there is one thing with regard to this here book in particular that has both annoyed, frustrated and with dismay massively infuriated me (and continues to do so) and that is the fact that there do exist quite a number of rantingly frothing at the proverbial mouth rabid reviews by moronic and ignorant puritanical lowlives claiming that The Philharmonic Gets Dressed is somehow problematic and inappropriate for children, simply because the illustrations depict men and women taking baths and showers, dressed in their underwear, donning articles of clothing and so on and so on. Now how sadly, disgustingly unenlightened and ridiculously puritanical, but also, how potentially psychologically damaging this type of an "attitude" is, as yes, teaching one's children that nakedness, that one's body, that one's underclothes are unnatural and inappropriate to be seen or to be mentioned, could so easily lead to serious mental health issues, and a negative view towards both the human body and perhaps even essential everyday activities such as basic personal hygiene and the act of dressing oneself (and I for one would even go so far as to also claim that this type of philosophy and mindset are dangerously neglectful if not actually ABUSIVE parenting practices, and willfully transferring one's own and personal hangups and issues onto one's innocent children, onto others, as indeed, nakedness in and of itself is definitely completely natural and innocent,t and frankly anyone who thinks otherwise has some majorly problematic mental health issues).
I do therefore warmly recommend The Philharmonic Gets Dressed (and even with my criticism that Karla Kuskin's narrative is a bit lacklustre) to children who enjoy quirky stories with humorous illustrations and/or are interested in and intrigued by the general workday of a member of a philharmonic orchestra (and to their parents, of course). And indeed, The Philharmonic Gets Dressed would also be a good picture book to share with children whose parents might have to work at night, or at other hours not part of the common and standard nine to five workday.
Now although as a general concept, I have indeed quite enjoyed The Philharmonic Gets Dressed and do simply absolutely and totally adore Marc Simont's accompanying illustrations, I would have to agree with my GR friend Lisa that Karla Kuskin's presented text does unfortunately have the tendency to feel rather ploddingly pedestrian and as such it does not really measure up all that well to the descriptive and in all ways oh so wonderful illustrations, and in fact so much so that I think I would probably prefer The Philharmonic Gets Dressed with just the illustrations, as a wordless picture book (which is kind of majorly strange for me, as I do not as a rule tend to like worldless picture books all that much). But Marc Simont's illustrations are truly and in fact evocative and detailed enough in and of themselves to engender many different and interesting anecdotes, stories both humorous and serious, and I kind of feel that Karla Kuskin's narrative actually somewhat limits Simont's excellent pictorial images and does not do them nearly enough justice.
And finally, there is one thing with regard to this here book in particular that has both annoyed, frustrated and with dismay massively infuriated me (and continues to do so) and that is the fact that there do exist quite a number of rantingly frothing at the proverbial mouth rabid reviews by moronic and ignorant puritanical lowlives claiming that The Philharmonic Gets Dressed is somehow problematic and inappropriate for children, simply because the illustrations depict men and women taking baths and showers, dressed in their underwear, donning articles of clothing and so on and so on. Now how sadly, disgustingly unenlightened and ridiculously puritanical, but also, how potentially psychologically damaging this type of an "attitude" is, as yes, teaching one's children that nakedness, that one's body, that one's underclothes are unnatural and inappropriate to be seen or to be mentioned, could so easily lead to serious mental health issues, and a negative view towards both the human body and perhaps even essential everyday activities such as basic personal hygiene and the act of dressing oneself (and I for one would even go so far as to also claim that this type of philosophy and mindset are dangerously neglectful if not actually ABUSIVE parenting practices, and willfully transferring one's own and personal hangups and issues onto one's innocent children, onto others, as indeed, nakedness in and of itself is definitely completely natural and innocent,t and frankly anyone who thinks otherwise has some majorly problematic mental health issues).
I do therefore warmly recommend The Philharmonic Gets Dressed (and even with my criticism that Karla Kuskin's narrative is a bit lacklustre) to children who enjoy quirky stories with humorous illustrations and/or are interested in and intrigued by the general workday of a member of a philharmonic orchestra (and to their parents, of course). And indeed, The Philharmonic Gets Dressed would also be a good picture book to share with children whose parents might have to work at night, or at other hours not part of the common and standard nine to five workday.
March 29, 2011
I was reading this book for the Goodreads Picture Book Club and I was extremely intrigued with this book! “The Philharmonic Gets Dressed” is a children’s book by Karla Kuskin along with illustrations Marc Simont that details the preparation that the members of the Philharmonic Orchestra must undergo to get ready for their encore! “The Philharmonic Gets Dressed” is a great book for children who love learning about the inner workings of an orchestra!
It is Friday night and ninety-two men and thirteen women are getting dressed to get ready for work. First, they all take baths and wash themselves, then they put on the black and white outfits and then they pack up their instruments, head on to the auditorium and begin to play!
I truly enjoyed this book because it explained so much about what the musicians of the orchestra have to go through to prepare themselves for the orchestra performance. I loved the way that Karla Kuskin made this book extremely informative by just basically detailing what each member of the orchestra dresses up in to get ready for their performance and what really interested me about the uniforms that each member wears is how much attention is paid to the conductor as he dresses up for the performance. I loved how Karla Kuskin gave so much detail on what the conductor wears for his uniform such as having wavy black hair with a white lightning streak and having a very soft white shirt with ruffles down the front with special cuffs. Another aspect of this book that I really loved was Marc Simont’s illustrations as they are extremely cute and I really loved seeing all the members getting dressed up for the orchestra since I was always interested in seeing what their outfits would look like for the orchestra and it is interesting to see that the members of the orchestra mainly wears black and white outfits rather than colorful outfits for a performance. Now, some parents might complain about the members of the orchestra undressing and bathing themselves, but personally, this does not bother me since it was done in a non-sexual way.
Parents should know that this book might be a bit too lengthy for smaller children to go through, which is why I gave it a four star rating instead of a five star rating because it was a bit long to read through. Even though it would be interesting to children to see how the members of the orchestra dress up, most smaller children might become bored with the length of this book. Parents might want to save one half of the book for the next day to keep the child’s interest going.
Overall, “The Philharmonic Gets Dressed” is a great book in detailing the preparation phrase of getting dressed for a performance in the orchestra and what kinds of outfits each member dresses in for the orchestra. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the book might be a bit too long for smaller children.
It is Friday night and ninety-two men and thirteen women are getting dressed to get ready for work. First, they all take baths and wash themselves, then they put on the black and white outfits and then they pack up their instruments, head on to the auditorium and begin to play!
I truly enjoyed this book because it explained so much about what the musicians of the orchestra have to go through to prepare themselves for the orchestra performance. I loved the way that Karla Kuskin made this book extremely informative by just basically detailing what each member of the orchestra dresses up in to get ready for their performance and what really interested me about the uniforms that each member wears is how much attention is paid to the conductor as he dresses up for the performance. I loved how Karla Kuskin gave so much detail on what the conductor wears for his uniform such as having wavy black hair with a white lightning streak and having a very soft white shirt with ruffles down the front with special cuffs. Another aspect of this book that I really loved was Marc Simont’s illustrations as they are extremely cute and I really loved seeing all the members getting dressed up for the orchestra since I was always interested in seeing what their outfits would look like for the orchestra and it is interesting to see that the members of the orchestra mainly wears black and white outfits rather than colorful outfits for a performance. Now, some parents might complain about the members of the orchestra undressing and bathing themselves, but personally, this does not bother me since it was done in a non-sexual way.
Parents should know that this book might be a bit too lengthy for smaller children to go through, which is why I gave it a four star rating instead of a five star rating because it was a bit long to read through. Even though it would be interesting to children to see how the members of the orchestra dress up, most smaller children might become bored with the length of this book. Parents might want to save one half of the book for the next day to keep the child’s interest going.
Overall, “The Philharmonic Gets Dressed” is a great book in detailing the preparation phrase of getting dressed for a performance in the orchestra and what kinds of outfits each member dresses in for the orchestra. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the book might be a bit too long for smaller children.
June 20, 2008
I love the symphony and I love books, but I thought that this book was dull. The illustrations are wonderful. The text was plodding. It’s a very straightforward, detailed account of orchestra members getting dressed, leaving their homes, and going to work to make music together, and it ends before any music starts. It would have been a more interesting book with the illustrations and no words at all. Maybe it was my mood, but I thought that this was a boring, ineffective way to try to excite children about the symphony and symphonic music.
March 26, 2011
The Philharmonic Gets Dressed was a Picture Book Club read for this month's theme "Music" http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4...
I liked the concept of the book giving incite into what the Philharmonic does to get ready for the evening. However, it just didn't come together for me. While the pictures were interesting enough, the text however was not. I found myself skimming the text in the middle of the book because it become quite doldrum. It wasn't so much about music itself, but about the people getting dressed.
I liked the concept of the book giving incite into what the Philharmonic does to get ready for the evening. However, it just didn't come together for me. While the pictures were interesting enough, the text however was not. I found myself skimming the text in the middle of the book because it become quite doldrum. It wasn't so much about music itself, but about the people getting dressed.
November 26, 2019
The one hundred and five members of the Philharmonic Orchestra - ninety-two men and thirteen women - get dressed for work in this quirky little picture-book, first published in 1982. Starting with their baths and showers - one enjoys a good read in the tub, while his cat sits by and watches! - and continuing as they don underwear, clothing, and outerwear, before bidding their families and pets goodbye, grabbing their instruments, and heading for midtown, The Philharmonic Gets Dressed chronicles the Friday-evening preparations of one dedicated orchestra.
Chosen by the Picture-Book Club to which I belong as one of six selections for our music-themed March reading program, this amusing story will strike a chord with young readers who enjoy tales of people in their underwear ( Captain Underpants , anyone?), while also introducing them to the magic of an evening at the symphony. The cartoon-like illustrations of Marc Simont are humorous and appealing, but not (despite some absurd reviews I have seen) inappropriate for children. All in all, I would recommend this story to young music lovers (and their parents), especially if they enjoy somewhat oddball humor.
Chosen by the Picture-Book Club to which I belong as one of six selections for our music-themed March reading program, this amusing story will strike a chord with young readers who enjoy tales of people in their underwear ( Captain Underpants , anyone?), while also introducing them to the magic of an evening at the symphony. The cartoon-like illustrations of Marc Simont are humorous and appealing, but not (despite some absurd reviews I have seen) inappropriate for children. All in all, I would recommend this story to young music lovers (and their parents), especially if they enjoy somewhat oddball humor.
August 2, 2023
I absolutely adore this book - the story - the illustrations. If I were a child of six reading this with my mom or dad, I'd have asked a thousand and one questions with the last being when can we go see the philharmonic play? Inspired and inspiring.
March 17, 2011
This is an interesting and unusual way to look at an orchestra; it shows how many parts have to come together for this group to become one and "turn black notes on white pages into a symphony." We loved the fun illustrations (Marc Simont is one of our favorites from all the Nate The Great stories we've read) and the people in underwear definitely got a giggle from our girls. The narrative was simple, and a math exercise in itself. We loved pointing out all the instruments we knew and I had fun guessing who would play what. Overall, this is a fun, but somewhat strange book about the Philharmonic. We discovered this book as it was a selection for the March 2011 Music-Themed club reads for the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Book Group here at Goodreads.
March 2, 2011
I like the concept of showing the members of a Philharmonic orchestra getting ready for their performance. But why oh why did Simont have to show so many adults in their underwear or coming out of a shower or bath and only covered by steam or a towel? I live in a very conservative area where nearly naked adults is something of a problem in a children's picture book. This was a Reading Rainbow book so I didn't worry about content before I purchased it. I haven't seen that episode, but I would really like to see how or if they dealt with those illustrations.
March 7, 2011
Underwear is funny! I guess there are objections to this book because it depicts adults in their underwear. I'm bemused by that.
Karla Kuskin's charming description of the preparations of the men and women of the orchestra for their evening, climbing into their formal wear, and arriving at the concert hall. It's all described with affection and humor. The illustrations by Marc Simont pair perfectly, to make this a gem of a book to share with your youngest music lovers.
Karla Kuskin's charming description of the preparations of the men and women of the orchestra for their evening, climbing into their formal wear, and arriving at the concert hall. It's all described with affection and humor. The illustrations by Marc Simont pair perfectly, to make this a gem of a book to share with your youngest music lovers.
March 24, 2012
105 members of the philharmonic take baths, dry off, put on their underthings, get dressed, put on their coats, etc., and go to the concert hall to play a concert. I enjoyed the accuracy in illustration, such as the timpanist putting his head down to the drum to tune. They really got the details right.
March 6, 2018
Charming, childlike, funny. This is my picture book find of the weekend. Published in 1982, The Philharmonic Gets Dressed gives a clever introduction to the orchestra, following 105 musicians as they get ready for show night. They take bubble baths and steamy showers, put on undershirts or pantyhose and complicated brassieres. Eventually, they fix their dresses and their bow ties, pull on coats or boots with heals and head out into the city to Philharmonic Hall where they ready their instruments, fill the stage, and PLAY. The incomparable Marc Simont adds lots of humor and detail to the text with his silly, expressive illustrations. Probably most enjoyable to 4- 7 year old kids.
August 2, 2013
A strange and mundanely wonderful book!
I love it so much.
It really is the details of 105 members of the philharmonic getting dressed and ready to go to work in all their disparate homes and disparate ways and then, finally, beginning to play!
I love it so much.
It really is the details of 105 members of the philharmonic getting dressed and ready to go to work in all their disparate homes and disparate ways and then, finally, beginning to play!
May 16, 2020
Cute picture book. I liked it when I was little. It’s a fun little story, interesting enough. 4 stars.
October 31, 2020
This picture book follows the members of an orchestra as they get dressed for their evening concert. I have read this book before, but had somehow never recorded it on Goodreads. It is an absolutely wonderful read-aloud. The language flows so smoothly, that the feel of the words coming out of my mouth was really enjoyable. The artwork is also very detailed and interesting, and it is fun to try following one character through the entire book. Curious preschoolers will love the specific details of each person's attire, instrument, and travel to the concert. Miss Muffet really enjoyed it, and I had fun photographing the book for Instagram.
May 28, 2020
Kuskin takes readers through the actual process of the Philharmonic members getting dressed to play and then finally sharing their beautiful music.
Some math gets slipped in as she shares how many members perform each of the functions.
Plenty of humor in the illustration details. Each member has their own personality and it shows.
Glad I went back and read it again.
Some math gets slipped in as she shares how many members perform each of the functions.
Plenty of humor in the illustration details. Each member has their own personality and it shows.
Glad I went back and read it again.
May 19, 2008
This was more of a 3.75 stars for me, but I'm rounding up. There seemed to be a inordinate number of lines devoted to the specifics of the underwear the musicians were wearing (?) but once I got past that (all I could think of was why are we talking about underwear so much??) I did like it : )
February 27, 2008
Nice intro to instruments in an orchestra, plus a "getting dressed" book, for early elementary.
February 6, 2022
Recommended to us by Paul Zelinsky when we Skyped with him, and then it matched our sound unit in science perfectly!
June 25, 2013
This book is a hoot!
August 10, 2016
I'm little bored and because they like be process in start clothes to finish and going to music play, and make me bored.
March 22, 2019
What a little treat, just charming. Picked it up because it was mentioned in Wild Things and I can't imagine anyone would be bothered by the nudity (implied but not really shown), honestly, the things people get worked up about, sigh. The integration of text and image was so well done I would have imagined a single mind behind it, but not so, apparently. There's so much to see, this could easily be a favourite that's returned to again and again. A real pleasure.
One might mention to children that it was written a long time ago, and there are likely to be many more women in the Philharmonic Orchestra these days!
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
One might mention to children that it was written a long time ago, and there are likely to be many more women in the Philharmonic Orchestra these days!
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
January 31, 2020
"It is almost Friday night. Outside, the dark is getting darker," and here and there around the city ninety-two men and thirteen women are getting dressed to go to work. First they bathe and put on their underwear. Then they don special black-and-white apparel. Then when the one hundred and five people are completely ready, each takes a musical instrument and travels to midtown. There, at 8:30 tonight, they will work together: playing.
In these pages Karla Kuskin and Marc Simont combine their talents to give us a delightful and unusual inside view of one way an orchestra prepares.
In these pages Karla Kuskin and Marc Simont combine their talents to give us a delightful and unusual inside view of one way an orchestra prepares.
April 7, 2019
A repetitive story for children about the one hundred and five people who make up a philharmonic orchestra (including the conductor). I was hoping the story would outline more what each section of the orchestra does and the various positions (like first chair). It was a little more basic than that. Still, it was cute and might spark an interest for some children to learn more about (and maybe even attend a performance of) the orchestra.
May 9, 2019
This is a children's book, so I'm not going to do a deep analysis here, but I did think it was very good.
It provides a perfect introduction to the Philharmonic or orchestra in general for young children
I also really appreciated how it talked about both men and women's clothes in detail.
The illustrations are really fun and in the case of the depiction of the Philharmonic hall itself, beautiful.
The Philharmonic Gets Dressed is cute and definitely worth a read for younger children.
It provides a perfect introduction to the Philharmonic or orchestra in general for young children
I also really appreciated how it talked about both men and women's clothes in detail.
The illustrations are really fun and in the case of the depiction of the Philharmonic hall itself, beautiful.
The Philharmonic Gets Dressed is cute and definitely worth a read for younger children.
August 5, 2020
A quirky kids book with funny illustrations and lots of detail to hold attention and fascination. Kids latch on to these kinds of things, for whatever reason. Like the streak of white in the hair of the conductor. It's shaped like a lightning bolt! That kind of thing. And how some musicians must lug big cases to work, but the conductor must carry simply a light, elegant briefcase carrying his precious baton. Top notch; fond memories!
December 30, 2018
It's Friday night, and ninety-two men and thirteen women are getting dressed to go to work. The author reveals the rituals of bathing, and getting dressed in black and white apparel. All one hundred and five people work together, and will meet at 8:30 p.m. to perform as one at the Philharmonic Orchestra.
November 18, 2019
I loved this story! Such an original take on an orchestra! Kids I have introduced the book to have also enjoyed it. One really never gives any thought as to what anyone does before they go to work. I liked the behind the scenes views of the various musicians homes and their modes of transportation getting to the hall. Marc Simont's illustrations were wonderful and detailed; just so humorous!
March 10, 2020
I honestly did not expect to love this book, but I do. Hopefully your child has the patience to sit through it. It goes through how the members of the Philharmonic get dressed, dividing among gender, then whether they shower or bathe, and then types of undergarments. I know my nieces will find it entertaining.
April 5, 2024
This was an interesting picture book about how the members of the Philharmonic Orchestra get ready to perform on a Friday night. Vun illustrations by Marc Simont, but kind of a dull story, unless you're interested in music, orchestras, etc. Otherwise, it's kind fo slow-moving, but I still enjoyed it. My rating - 3/5
July 3, 2020
My preschool aged daughter and I both enjoyed this book. I would have liked to see more diversity in the members of the orchestra. (I’m assuming this followed the actual orchestra members of the NY philharmonic at the time it was written and thus was limited, but still.)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews