From Publishers Weekly
Moss's (Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin) occasionally strained yet spirited rhyming narrative introduces 10 youngsters, most with alliterative monikers (Belinda Blore, Calvin Crum, Mel Mackelroy, etc.), who aspire to play different instruments. Practicing at their open windows in neighboring houses, the kids create quite the cacophonous clamor: "Throughout the start, each person's part/ Just didn't sound too good;/ The girls and boys produced a noise/ That stunned the neighborhood." But practice makes nearly perfect, and the mayor proclaims them a "dandy band." The mayor's words, in fact, demonstrate the unevenness of Morse's verse, which intermittently scrambles tenses and stumbles rhythmically (e.g., "It's my intent they'll represent/ The town, and I will try/ To see they've played our big parade/ The next Fourth of July!"). Bluthenthal's (Molly's in a Mess) cheerful, detailed cartoon art conveys the spunk of the young musicians and the townsfolk's evolving reaction to their music-making, as dismay at the kids' beginning efforts turns to jubilation during their polished performance in the parade. Given the characters' energy and enthusiasm, young readers are likely to turn a deaf ear to any of the book's discordant notes. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
K-Gr 3-How do the young instrument-toting hopefuls who appear on the front endpapers of this musical story transform themselves into the energetic, smartly uniformed band racing across the back endpapers? "By never veering,/Persevering, early morn 'til late," from fall to spring. At first the efforts of Harry Horner, Shavaun O'Shea, Ralph Rosenstock, and their friends to learn to play their instruments disturb the neighbors, as, sobbing and tearing their hair they complain, "Confound that noise!/Those girls and boys are driving us insane!" But finally, their long hours of practice pay off and their melodious sounds so impress the mayor that she invites them to play in the Fourth of July parade. The silliness of the rhyming text, replete with alliteration and assonance, is echoed in Bluthenthal's zany cartoon watercolor illustrations. The pictures are large, many of them double-page spreads, and feature notes dancing across pages, exasperated neighbors covering their ears with their hands and even newspapers, and, in the end, an exuberant crowd proudly cheering its young people on. Observant readers will find many comical touches in these pictures, including a runaway drum that its player never does get under control. For more musical merriment, pair this title with Harriet Ziefert's Animal Music (Houghton, 1999).
Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
