The Caldecott Honor book, now in paperback!

With mournful moan and silken tone,

itself alone comes ONE TROMBONE...

Then a trumpet joins in to become a duet; add a French horn and voila! you have a trio -- and on it goes until an entire orchestra is assembled on stage. Lloyd Moss's iresistible rhymes and Marjorie Pricemans's energetic illustrations make beautiful music together -- a masterpiece that is the perfect introduction to musical instruments and musical groups, and a counting book that redefines the genre.


以轻松、诙谐的笔调，艳丽温暖的色彩，勾勒出各种乐器特别的造型，加上简练的文字、清楚的形容，这些乐器的形象更深刻地印在孩子心中。不过，这绝对不只是一本乐器图鉴，作者很幽默地以每一位演奏者特别的造型、体态及服装，和他所演奏的乐器在造型上相互配合呼应，一方面增加趣味，一方面加深印象，例如：圆号由矮矮胖胖的绅士演奏，大提琴的演奏者穿着条纹装，身上一条一条的花纹，与琴弦呼应着。拉小提琴的是一位穿礼服的酷哥，看看他浪漫的金发，似乎暗示着琴声的委婉多情。

以语言文字来形容造型与色彩是很难的，以语言文字来形容声音更难，但是在这本图画书里，文字作者对声音的形容却十分巧妙、传神，比如小提琴的声音是“又细又高，好像飘在空中的细丝带”。单簧管的声音是“好像你闭着嘴巴哼歌那样”。低音管“是个爱跳舞的小丑，常常发出顽皮的低音”，怪不得画家让一位鼻尖红红、头顶秃秃的，还结了一个大花领带的人来吹奏着。

除了安排几只动作调皮的猫、狗和老鼠串场，让气氛更加活泼外，整本书的文字，和背景紧密呼应，排列得非常有律动感，是一本图画和文字都深具音乐味、而且处处隐藏着调皮趣味的图画书。

和孩子一起看完这本书之后，找个机会带他到乐器行走走吧！当然，能够带他参加音乐会就更理想了。

"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 to 8) --Karin Snelson