Customer Reviews

Give Me Bach My Schubert (It Could Be Verse)

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This book won a Children's Choice Award for books published this year. Along with Shel Silverstein and Roald Dahl, Brian Cleary was honored as more than 10,000 school-aged children cast their votes for their 99 favorite books of the year. Children's Choices are overseen by a joint committee of the International Reading Association and the Children's Book Council. The year of publication was 1996.

"Give me Bach my Schubert" is a humorous, pun-filled story of a boy's attempt to run from his piano lesson. The adventure starts at Madame Phalanges' (note pun) Piano Studio, where the narrator's friend Bert absconds with his shoe: "My buddy Bert likes HAYDN things -- he's sometimes hard to HANDEL. I said, 'Give me BACH my SCHUBERT,' `cause I knew he took my sandal." While Cleary's text chronicles the narrator's subsequent attempt to flag down his antagonist-friend, Rick Dupre's illustrations tell a separate "story-within-a-story" -- i.e., Madame Phalanges' attempt to return the boy to his music lesson. Cleary highlights each of his musical puns in the story with color and contrasting typefaces -- lest any children get the idea that "violence" is actually the same as "violins," for example. This clever technique also has the dual effect of making the book more user-friendly to parents, many of whom might not be too astute with musical lingo. This book is as educational as it is unique and entertaining, and -- at $18.95 -- is well worth its asking price

"Give me Bach my Schubert" is a humorous, pun-filled story of a boy's attempt to run from his piano lesson. The adventure starts at Madame Phalanges' (note pun) Piano Studio, where the narrator's friend Bert absconds with his shoe: "My buddy Bert likes Haydn things -- he's sometimes hard to Handel. I said, 'Give me Bach my Schubert,' `cause I knew he took my sandal." While Cleary's text chronicles the narrator's subsequent attempt to flag down his antagonist-friend, Rick Dupre's illustrations tell a separate "story-within-a-story" -- i.e., Madame Phalanges' attempt to return the boy to his music lesson. Cleary highlights each of his musical puns in the story with color and contrasting typefaces -- lest any children get the idea that "violence" is actually the same as "violins," for example. This clever technique also has the dual effect of making the book more user-friendly to parents, many of whom might not be too astute with musical lingo. This book is as educational as it is unique and entertaining, and -- at $18.95 -- is well worth its asking price

"Give me Bach my Schubert" is a humorous, pun-filled story of a boy's attempt to run from his piano lesson. The adventure starts at Madame Phalanges' (note pun) Piano Studio, where the narrator's friend Bert absconds with his shoe: "My buddy Bert likes Haydn things -- he's sometimes hard to Handel. I said, 'Give me Bach my Schubert,' `cause I knew he took my sandal." While Cleary's text chronicles the narrator's subsequent attempt to flag down his antagonist-friend, Rick Dupre's illustrations tell a separate "story-within-a-story" -- i.e., Madame Phalanges' attempt to return the boy to his music lesson. Cleary highlights each of his musical puns in the story with color and contrasting typefaces -- lest any children get the idea that "violence" is actually the same as "violins," for example. This clever technique also has the dual effect of making the book more user-friendly to parents, many of whom might not be too astute with musical lingo. This book is as educational as it is unique and entertaining, and -- at $18.95 -- is well worth its asking price

GIVE ME BACH MY SCHUBERT is a humorous, pun-filled story of a boy's attempt to run from his piano lesson. The adventure starts at Madame Phalanges' (note pun) Piano Studio, where the narrator's friend Bert absconds with his shoe: My buddy Bert likes HAYDY things -- he's sometimes hard to HANDEL. I said, "Give me BACH my SCHUBERT," `cause I knew he took my sandal. While Cleary's text chronicles the narrator's subsequent attempt to flag down his antagonist-friend, Rick Dupre's illustrations tell a separate "story-within-a-story" -- i.e., Madame Phalanges' attempt to return the boy to his music lesson. Cleary highlights each of his musical puns in the story with color and contrasting typefaces -- lest any children get the idea that "violence" is actually the same as "violins," for example. This clever technique also has the dual effect of making the book more user-friendly to parents, many of whom might not be too astute with musical lingo. This book is as educational as it is unique and entertaining, and -- at $18.95 -- is well worth its asking price. ##