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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | BUNTING | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Newberg Public Library | RHYTHM BUNTING | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
It's a musical menagerie! Hey diddle diddle, the cat plays the fiddle, the cow
. . . plays the silver trombone! Eve Bunting's fresh take on a familiar rhyme, enlivened by Mary Ann Fraser's whimsical illustrations, offers spread after spread of exuberant animals showcasing their musical talents. From the camel jamming on the trumpet to the whale keeping the beat on the drums, young readers will relish their front-row seat to this delightful animal orchestra.
Author Notes
Eve Bunting was born in 1928 in Maghera, Ireland, as Anne Evelyn Bunting. She graduated from Northern Ireland's Methodist College in Belfast in 1945 and then studied at Belfast's Queen's College. She emigrated with her family in 1958 to California, and became a naturalized citizen in 1969.
That same year, she began her writing career, and in 1972, her first book, "The Two Giants" was published. In 1976, "One More Flight" won the Golden Kite Medal, and in 1978, "Ghost of Summer" won the Southern California's Council on Literature for Children and Young People's Award for fiction. "Smokey Night" won the American Library Association's Randolph Caldecott Medal in 1995 and "Winter's Coming" was voted one of the 10 Best Books of 1977 by the New York Times.
Bunting is involved in many writer's organizations such as P.E.N., The Authors Guild, the California Writer's Guild and the Society of Children's Book Writers. She has published stories in both Cricket, and Jack and Jill Magazines, and has written over 150 books in various genres such as children's books, contemporary, historic and realistic fiction, poetry, nonfiction and humor.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Starting with the first line of the well-known nursery rhyme, this story introduces a group of animals that play musical instruments. At the beginning of the book, they appear to have only one fan-a bluebird that follows them from page to page, until a boy shows up on the scene. His interaction with the band comes as a surprise, but he holds the key to an important secret about the animals. Variations of the phrase "Hey diddle diddle" appear throughout; for example, "Hey diddle dumpet,/the camel blows trumpet" and "Hey diddle darp, the mouse plays the harp." Rendered in acrylics, the lively cartoon illustrations appear against vivid backgrounds of purple, yellow, blue, and pink. While the pig and camel are dressed up, the seal and whale look more natural. Catchy rhymes encourage children to imagine the different sounds these instruments make and to appreciate what happens when the dog strikes up the band.-Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, AB, Canada (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Apparently the cat isn't the only musical prodigy: Bunting has altered the classic nursery rhyme to include a lion flutist, a cow trombonist, a whale drummer, and so on ("Hey diddle dar, / the horse strums guitar, / the pig plays piano with grace..."). Fraser's acrylics reflect the menagerie's musical prowess and enhance the surprise ending's payoff. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
(Picture book. 2-5)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
This begins with the familia. Hey diddle diddle, the cat plays the fiddle. but the cow, instead of jumping over the moon, joins in on a silver trombone. And that's not all. Hey diddle dum, the whale bangs the drum, the seal's on the big saxophone. The instrument-playing animals come together under the direction of a baton-wielding dog, when suddenly the focus shifts. A child appears, and we see that the players are miniatures in a music box that the child winds up with a key. Brightly colored, spacious acrylic illustrations feature one animal and instrument per double-page spread and build to a nice crescendo with the appearance of the canine maestro. The arrival of the child and the realization that the group is encased in a box is a tad jarring, but the fantasy of having such a group of musicians at your disposal should assuage any feeling of disappointment. Check out Peggy Perry Anderson's Chuck's Band (2008) or Jill Newton's Crash Bang Donkey! (2010), both of which feature groups of instrument-playing animals.--Enos, Randal. Copyright 2010 Booklist