Customer Reviews

Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music!

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A wonderful resource! After a recent visit to our symphony, my 5-year-old son wanted to know more about "the big thing with strings." With this book and CD, he has learned about the bass and so many more instruments. Two-page spreads complete with photos describe each of the main orchestral instuments and are keyed to musical selections on the CD highlighting that instrument. The combination of both seeing and hearing the instrument has fascinated my son, and he now likes to listen to the classical radio station and try to identify the instruments he hears. The CD is also lovely as background music during our day.

The enthusiasm for classical music without ever getting high-brow leaps off the pages of this book. Noting a few classical composers, conveying facts on how an instrument is held, how it sounds and where it fits into its niche in the orchestra are the strongest features of this book. The cd is weak but it works.

This book is for kids somewhat older and even adults really, it's a thicker book but no less colorful than "Meet the Orchestra" by Ann Hayes and Karmen Thompson which is a perfect complement to "Story of the Orchestra" but "Meet the Orchestra" is definitely for younger kids in primary grades.

Reading three chapters from this book is our new bedtime ritual with my 5 year old daughter. And in the morning, she repeats everything she heard to her grandma and grandpa. The book is well-written, informative and entertaining, and the music samples are a great introduction to the classical masterpieces.

The Story of the Orchestra is an excellent book for. Adults would probably know most of the information covered in the book, but still a good read. Covers famous composers and highlights of their lives, orchestra history, instruments used in orchestras and bands. All information is true, and is a good source if you are doing any reports on instruments. Context is good and fits childrens' appetites- the Viola is the "violin's big brother." Good book. I highly recommend it.

We took Story of the Orchestra with us on a long road trip. Every hour or so, I would read a page and play the accompanying track on the CD player. My husband and I really enjoyed it, as did our 8-year-old. Our 13-year-old acted disinterested, but later I overheard him passing some of the information on to a friend. The book was entertaining, informative (even for my husband and I), and really helped pass the time. I think it would also be a good bedtime read--doing a page or two a night.

One of the most delightful, informative books about music for children (an adults too!). Lots of neat facts about the composers and fun facts about the instruments in the orchestra. The whimsical illustrations make the book come alive!!!!

I was looking for resources to help make teaching about classical music and composers to primary grade children more entertaining and I found what I needed all wrapped up in this book and CD combination.

Part I of the book concerns composers and is separated into the periods in which they composed, ie., Baroque, etc., with a brief description of art, architecture and feeling of the period. The composers covered for all periods are Vivaldi, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mahler, Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Gershwin, Copland and Bernstein.

Part II of the book is about the instruments of the orchestra. Again, this is further broken down into the different sections of the orchestra such as strings, woodwinds, etc. Then within each of those sections a feature on the individual instruments.

The accompanying CD has brief examples of the compositions introduced in the composers section and for each instrument. It really helps the kids hear what they've been discussing.

One of the best things about this book are the illustrations. They are colorful and entertaining. Sometimes there are humorous illustrations such as a drawing of the ideal Baroque instrumentalist needing 2 right hands, 3 left hands, and 3 eyes which really had my 3rd grade kids in giggles after hearing the intricacies of "Spring" by Vivaldi. There are also entertaining illustrations showing how an instrument produces its sound and they are mixed with photographs of the instrument itself. I highly recommend this book for music teachers to use as a reference and for parents who have children interested in learning an instrument.

I purchased this book in preparation for teaching a group of homeschooled students (ages 7-14) a short course in music appreciation. It was a terrific resource for them. The text was brief but engaging; the cartoons were entertaining; and the photography was so eyecatching. It covered the musical periods, with information on several representative composers. Then each of the orchestra sections was covered, with a helpful CD included to hear snips from pieces that featured the instruments. The students all learned quite a bit from this book. I recommend it highly.

Our 2 1/2 year-old daughter loved Zin Zin the Violin (another book-on-tape about an orchestra), so we also bought Story of the Orchestra for her, hoping she would keep learning more about music. We initially thought this one may be a little advanced for her since most descriptions list it for 6+ year-olds. Nope. We've had this book for a few weeks, and she reads the book (with the CD) multiple times a day, citing the name of each composer and instrument. There's nothing better than hearing your child say "Tchaichovsky" or "glockenspiel". Other side benefits are that she's learned how to use her CD player and how count and recognize numbers up to 37 - how many tracks there are on the CD.

The book contains kid-friendly illustrations, quotes, and stories about each composer and instrument that make kids (and parents) easily learn a lot of information about the orchestra. Then, about 80% of the composers and instruments have an accompanying CD track (about 2 minutes/track) that you can play on each page, in order to hear an example. It's usually a prominent composer's example where this instrument is featured. So, your child will actually be well-versed in some classical tunes by the end.

There are a few other books about orchestra's and instruments out there, but we rank this book/CD at the top for young children. My wife's a teacher, and she says this book would be a great part of a lesson plan or two.

An engaging and entertaining way to teach children about individual musical instruments and the four families of instruments.