Library Intern Book Reviews
Review of The Really Awful Musicians by John Manders
Publisher
Clarion Books
City
New York, New York, United States of America
Date of Publication
2011
ISBN
978-0-547-32820-1
Date of Review
2012
Disciplines
Library and Information Science | Modern Literature
Keywords
Children's literature, reviews
Recommended Citation
Stevens, Lillian, "Review of The Really Awful Musicians by John Manders" (2012). Library Intern Book Reviews. 43.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/intern_book_reviews/43
Review
The king is finally fed up with how horrible all musicians are, so he bans music and tosses the musicians to the crocodiles. But little Piffaro, who plays the pipe and drum, escapes the king’s men and runs away on a horse named Charlemagne. On the road they meet Espresso the mandolin player, Serena the Silent the soft playing harpist, Fortissimo the Loudest Musician in Boombardy Award sackbut player, and Lugubrio the slowest contrabass recorder player. Finally, Charlemagne the horse cannot stand it anymore, all the musicians sound terrible! So he draws five lines and makes hoofmarks for the high and low notes and tells the musicians to all play together. Now the musicians sound lovely together and the king likes music again. This colorfully illustrated book uses written sounds, humor, and musically named characters to introduce students to the basics of music. The author’s note at the end explains the historical basis of the story and includes a brief description of each instrument. Highly recommended. Lillian Stevens, Centennial Library Intern, Cedarville University