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.


以輕松、詼諧的筆調，艷麗溫暖的色彩，勾勒出各種樂器特別的造型，加上簡練的文字、清楚的形容，這些樂器的形象更深刻地印在孩子心中。不過，這絕對不只是一本樂器圖鑒，作者很幽默地以每一位演奏者特別的造型、體態及服裝，和他所演奏的樂器在造型上相互配合呼應，一方面增加趣味，一方面加深印象，例如：圓號由矮矮胖胖的紳士演奏，大提琴的演奏者穿著條紋裝，身上一條一條的花紋，與琴弦呼應著。拉小提琴的是一位穿禮服的酷哥，看看他浪漫的金發，似乎暗示著琴聲的委婉多情。

以語言文字來形容造型與色彩是很難的，以語言文字來形容聲音更難，但是在這本圖畫書里，文字作者對聲音的形容卻十分巧妙、傳神，比如小提琴的聲音是“又細又高，好像飄在空中的細絲帶”。單簧管的聲音是“好像你閉著嘴巴哼歌那樣”。低音管“是個愛跳舞的小丑，常常發出頑皮的低音”，怪不得畫家讓一位鼻尖紅紅、頭頂禿禿的，還結了一個大花領帶的人來吹奏著。

除了安排幾只動作調皮的貓、狗和老鼠串場，讓氣氛更加活潑外，整本書的文字，和背景緊密呼應，排列得非常有律動感，是一本圖畫和文字都深具音樂味、而且處處隱藏著調皮趣味的圖畫書。

和孩子一起看完這本書之后，找個機會帶他到樂器行走走吧！當然，能夠帶他參加音樂會就更理想了。

"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