Monday, April 27, 2009

Zin! Zin! Zin!: A Violin Ages 4-8

When this book begins, the trombone is playing all by itself. But soon a trumpet makes a duet, a french horn a trio, and so on until the entire orchestra is assembled on stage. Written in elegant and rhythmic verse and illustrated with playful and flowing artwork, this unique counting book is the perfect introduction to musical groups. Readers of all ages are sure to shout "Encore!" when they reach the final page of this joyous celebration of classical music.
Zin! Zin! Zin!: A Violin
By Lloyd Moss, Marjorie Priceman
Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Edition: illustrated
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1995
ISBN 0671882392, 9780671882396
32 pages
Amazon.com Review
"The STRINGS all soar, the REEDS implore, / The BRASSES roar with notes galore. / It's music that we all adore. / It's what we go to concerts for." In this exuberant tribute to classical music and the passionate, eccentric musicians who play it, author Lloyd Moss begins with the mournful moan and silken tone of one trombone. A trumpet sings and stings along, forming a duo, then a fine French horn joins in, "TWO, now THREE-O, what a TRIO!" The mellow cello ups it to a quartet, then ZIN! ZIN! ZIN! a violin soars high and moves in to make a quintet. The flute that "sends our soul a-shiver" makes a sextet, and "with steely keys that softly click," a sleek, black, woody clarinet slips the group into a septet. We move on! A chamber group of ten! And the orchestra is ready to begin. Moss should be congratulated for creating a playful, musical stream of rhyming couplets that seamlessly, slyly teaches the names of myriad musical groups. Marjorie Priceman, the whimsical, masterful illustrator of Elsa Okon Rael's When Zaydeh Danced on Eldridge Street and Jack Prelutsky's For Laughing Out Loud, won a Caldecott Honor Award for this swirling, twirling, colorful musical world worthy of thunderous applause and a standing ovation. (Ages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly
This debut book by author Moss, as kids today would say is boss. Its clever, jazzy verse presents (In language that is never dense) a helpful intro to each orchestra instrument-how some are alike but rather more are different. He starts with the trombone's "mournful moan," playing solo (i.e., alone); then adds a trumpet, French horn and cello-all sounding forth a signature "hello." Each musical portrait (in quatrains) abounds with perfectly chosen, alliterative sounds. Thus the flute, notes Moss, "sends our soul a-shiver; flute, that slender silver sliver." And Priceman's zany art's just right, with loose-limbed figures taking flight around each spread in garb bizarre, if proving how funky musicians are.With every new instrument joining the throng of diligent players practicing song, Moss incorporates numbers and stops only when his team finally reaches a "chamber group of ten." So the book can be used as a counting tool (A great way to perk up a dull day at school): but it really works best, it's easy to see, as a deft means of meeting the symphony. So a plentiful praise to this finely matched pair, whose pictures and words show unusual flair.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

No comments:

Post a Comment