Carnival Of The Animals

A silly story that presents an assortment of animals and an orchestra.

The next title in this best-selling sound series reimagines Carnival of the Animals, one of the most famous suites of music for children, by Camille Saint-Saens.

Fourteen pieces -- scored for flute/piccolo, clarinet, glass harmonica (tuned glass bowls), xylophone, two pianos, and strings -- paint delightful musical portraits of a lion, chickens, turtles, an elephant, kangaroos, and the immensely popular swan.

A mischievous boy slips away from his teacher during a field trip to a natural history museum and, after the museum closes, sees all of the people he knows transformed into animals.

Press each embedded sound button to listen to specially arranged music from Camille Saint-Saens's famous Carnival of the Animals. The pages also have half die-cuts revealing the artwork on the layer below.

Discover what it would be like to travel through the four seasons in one day in this musical story based on the classical masterpiece The Four Seasons—push the button in each breathtaking scene to hear the vivid sound of an orchestra playing from Vivaldi's score. Follow a little girl called Isabelle and her dog, Pickle, as they take on the adventure of a lifetime. As a sign of the changing seasons, Isabelle carries a little apple tree with her, and we see it bud, blossom, and lose its leaves. As you and your little one journey through the vibrant scenes illustrated by artist Jessica Courtney-Tickle, you will press the buttons to hear 10 excerpts from The Four Seasons violin concerti. At the back of the book, find a short biography of the composer, Antonio Vivaldi, with details about his composition of The Four Seasons. Next to this, you can replay the musical excerpts and, for each of them, read a discussion of the instruments, rhythms, and musical techniques that make them so powerful. A glossary defines musical terms. The Story Orchestra series brings classical music to life for children through gorgeously illustrated retellings of classic ballet stories paired with 10-second sound clips of orchestras playing from their musical scores. Manufacturer's note: please pull the white tab out of the back of the book before use. Sound buttons require a firm push in exact location to work, which may be hard for young children. All sound clips are 10 seconds long.

Inspired by Saint-Saëns' famous zoological fantasy, this magnificent project combines specially commissioned work by eleven acclaimed modern poets with riotous illustrations by Satoshi Kitamura. The accompanying CD features each of the poems representing an animal in the procession, read aloud to their corresponding passage of music. Let the carnival begin! All ages.