Publisher's Weekly Review
The ``festive colors'' and ``flashing brass'' of a marching band appear before the reader in this foot-stomping parade of color. ``Big as ants'' and ``loud as crickets,'' the tiny marchers climb off a yellow bus. The reader hears the band's ``distant drums/chirping horns/THUMP, THUMP/THUMP, THUMP.''Colors and sounds grow larger and louder as the band grows closer (``big as birds/loud as lions/THUMP, THUMP/THUMP, THUMP''), then gradually fade away. Baer's crescendo and de-crescendo of words is amiably matched by the typesize and by Ehlert's stylized marchers. The design is crisp and inventive; abstract but definable bandmembers made of rectangles and circles in primary colors step smartly across vivid pages. Readers will want to cheer for this rat-a-tat-tat parade. Ages 2-6. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
A marching band approaches the reader across intensely brilliant pages and then, with a thunder of drums and a flash of brass, marches past. The book transcends the printed page to convey a visual and auditory experience. Review, p. 607. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Onomatopoetic verse evokes a distant marching band coming close and then receding--while Ehlert's brilliantly colored, imaginatively stylized collages move from distant pattern to dazzling close-up. Slight but visually striking. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Ages 1-5. With a sharp, staccato text and bright, bold artwork, Baer and Ehlert re-create the sounds and sights of a marching band. Cut from red, brown, orange, and magenta paper into geometric shapes and arranged to represent the band members holding their instruments, tiny figures leave their school bus to march across a series of solid backgrounds of blue or green, the complementary colors that seemingly make the band leap from the pages with vibrant intensity. At first sight, far away, the band appears "Big as ants / Loud as crickets," then "Big as birds / Loud as lions." As the parade approaches, the shapes and the typeface become larger, then smaller as the band recedes into the distance: "Small as birds / Soft as lions," then "Small as crickets / Soft as birds." The rhythmic text and striking artwork vividly evoke the visceral excitement many children feel when a marching band plays close at hand. A fine read-aloud choice, particularly in a group setting where children will enjoy chiming in and where the striking artwork may be seen to best effect. --Carolyn Phelan
