Customer Reviews

The Klezmer Bunch

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A full-of-fun story celebrating the joy of music, particularly klezmer music. Set in Eastern Europe, the traveling musicians are always ready to travel to far-away places, to perform at weddings and bar mitzvahs. Their instruments are at the ready, and are packed in an old baby carriage, for the sake of being able to rapidly transport them. In this tale, the carriage is somewhat mischievous and decides to take off by itself and roll from village to village independently, being chased by the musicians till they all reach their destination. There is a lot of Jewish content and terminology. The story is preceded with an introduction about the meaning of klezmer and is followed with an Author's Note and glossary of terms. The illustrations, created by a talented illustrator, have depth and detail and successfully exemplify the humor inherent in the story. For ages 4 - 8. Shelly Feit

**This review was originally written by my dad for LibraryThing; since he doesn't have an Amazon account, I've posted it here for him.**

This is a well written children's picture book with a nice moral for the kids to learn from. The story reminds me of the children's tale of the goose that people were stuck to as they were all pulled along where the goose and its master went. In this case it is escaping musical instruments that people are chasing. The artwork is also well done.

Amalia Hoffman is a chronicler of Jewish traditions. In her latest book, The Klezmer Bunch, she attempts to convey some of the rich heritage of klezmer music for younger readers through her illustrations and a simple story that serves primarily as a device for introducing concepts. While the artwork faithfully conveys the rich and joyous nature of the music, the story is less successful.
Klezmer - the word comes from two Hebrew words meaning instrument and song - is the music that has been played for centuries at Jewish weddings and celebrations. Klezmorim - the musicians - traditionally relied on instruments that could be transported easily, violins and clarinets, hammered dulcimers (tsimbl) and smaller percussion instruments.
Hoffman tells the story of a band of klezmorim who are recruited to play at a wedding in neighboring village. They decide to use a baby carriage to carry their instruments, but the carriage has a mind of its own and goes wheeling about the countryside with the desperate musicians in hot pursuit. Will they catch up to the wayward carriage in time to prevent a disaster at the wedding? It is a children's book, after all.
If the story isn't terribly engrossing, the illustrations more than make up for it. With bright colors, cheery animals and smiling musicians, the pages almost vibrate with the infectious spirit of klezmer music. The drawings have a Chagall-like feel that evokes the Jewish villages of 19th century eastern Europe. If they want for anything, it is the happy sound of klezmer music itself. It's too bad the publishers did not choose to include a CD with the book.

This is a delightful, whimsical book about a group of klezmer musicians, their instruments, and a baby carriage come to life. I read it with my kids, ages 3 and 6. They both enjoyed it a lot (and I did too). The illustrations are bursting with color and humor, the story is entertaining, and the bits of song lyrics scattered throughout were fun, especially since I had to make up my own melodies. My older child was delighted by the silly story, while my younger one just enjoyed laughing at the idea of a runaway baby carriage and the pictures of little birds calling for mommy.

The pictures are really beautifully drawn, with lots of little details that I'm sure we'll be perusing again and again, discovering new tidbits each time. The story itself is simple and appealing, and offers some good opportunities for discussion with my older child, particularly about what a Jewish wedding is like. As soon as we had finished reading the book for the first time, my 6-year-old grabbed it from my hands so that he could turn back to his favorite page (read it once and he already has a favorite page!) and take a longer look at the pictures and study the funny words.

This is a great book for kids, especially if you need a break from all the "usual" kid stories. You don't have to be Jewish or know anything about klezmer to enjoy this book (in fact, the author includes some background information about klezmer music at the beginning and end). Recommended.

As a professional musician, harp teacher and music publisher, I loved the book!
Each page in The Klezmer Bunch celebrates music and the informative text will inspire children of all ages. The illustrations are marvelous and witty.

This is a great story to read with your children/grandchildren. The story is lots of fun and the illustrations have depth, detail and humor that radiates throughout.

Every page is full of interesting characters and instruments and situations that my grandchildren are always pointing to and asking about and that makes it a perfect read together.

It really captures the joy of the music and will surely inspire more than a few children with its art.