Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4--A lyrical tour de force about individuality, friendship, and community, this humorous picture book highlights such values through musical instruments, showing how even small fractures can become deep divisions. Clarinet and Trumpet are best friends and enjoy making music together until sleek Oboe enters the scene. Clarinet admires how she has two reeds and, suddenly, Trumpet is left in the dust. Trumpet tries to woo his friend back by writing a song for her, but she wants nothing to do with him. Then Trombone enters the scene and Trumpet has a new friend. The woodwinds and the brass turn on each other, quickly gathering friends who are "like them" to their sides. Watching one of the uglier sides of humanity play out amongst personified musical instruments may seem like an unrelenting and horrible metaphor but it is leavened through the frequent use of onomatopoeia--perfectly designed for the braying trombone and the raspy oboe--and the liberal use of musical wordplay as when "the fight crescendoed" or "their friendship fell flat." Bright and expressive digital art connects readers to the instruments' plights. Beyond the usual picture book set, readers of all ages will relate to the loss of friendship and how this can sometimes become an overall divisiveness within a once whole community. VERDICT A timely book that gently explores issues of similarity and difference, of holding on to one's individuality while also recognizing the importance of others, this is a first purchase for all libraries.--Rachel Zuffa, Case H.S., Racine, WI
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Review by Horn Book Review
"Clarinet and Trumpet were friends from the first note." The relationship hits a sour note, however, when Clarinet meets Oboe: "Woodwinds should stick together." Sad Trumpet eventually "slid[es] in with" Trombone; French horn and Tuba join them, while Flute and Bassoon back up the woodwinds. A discordant music-room rumble ensues until cool Saxaphone -- a brass woodwind -- swings in, reminding everyone that playing in harmony sounds best. With an upbeat message about friendship, this pun- and onomatopoeia-filled story is a lively introduction to instruments. The cheery digital illustrations have a retro-cartoon vibe. (c) Copyright 2023. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Two instruments wind up playing beautiful music together--after a few sour notes. Thanks to a tube of loose beads embedded in the spine, the book itself turns into a rhythm instrument when shaken--but there's no (overt) connection made between this gimmick and the actual story. All is harmony between Trumpet and Clarinet at first…but then in swaggers Oboe to turn Clarinet's head (" 'Is that a double reed?' gasped Clarinet. 'I know, right?!' said Oboe"). Oboe is followed by Trombone, Flute, and others so that soon the band room is dominated by rival camps of brass and woodwinds. At last, though, following some painful discord, Clarinet hears Saxophone's jazzy honks and realizes that Trumpet's bright "buzz and blast" would make ideal harmony. Trumpet responds to her overture by agreeing to be tuned, and soon all the instruments (with a few newcomers of the percussion persuasion) have found a new groove. Herzog pastes broadly expressive facial features on the instruments and stands them up in stylish postures on stick limbs. In the climactic ensemble, each of the three coupled anthropomorphic pairs consists of one light- and one dark-colored instrument. Whether there's anything to be made of that, there's a bright, infectious energy to the illustrations that plays well with the narrative's musical idiom. Unexploited novelty aside, a clever improvisation with neither literal nor figurative strings attached. (Novelty picture book. 6-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
