The Carnival of the Animals (by Jack Prelutsky)

Title:  The Carnival of the Animals

Author:  Jack Prelutsky

Summary:  Lose yourself in the fun animal romp of The Carnival of the Animals, a classic orchestral piece composed by Camille Saint-Saens, and now accompanied with new lyrics by Jack Prelutsky and illustrations by Mary GrandPre.

Blurber Blabber Review:  Buy it now!

Blurb:  A beautiful and fun book that covers various segments of Camille Saint-Saens' The Carnival of the Animals, with catchy rhymes by Prelutsky, and energetic illustrations by GrandPre.  Enjoy this by reading the book, listening to the CD, or doing both.  This can be as interactive or lazy of a read as you want it to be.  I bought this for my niece and nephew last holiday season for the concentrated all-day family events when I knew we would all be too busy and too tired to read books all day.  It was perfect.  

Age Range:  General recommended age range is 4-8, but this can definitely work for any younger age.

Story Type:  Rhymes

Scary Factor:  None, although some of the pictures include loud animals showing their teeth, like a lion roaring, and a donkey braying.  I guess it depends on how sensitive your little ones are, but my niece and nephew never had a problem with any of this when they first received this at the age of 3.

Reading Out Loud:  The beauty of this book is that it comes with a fully orchestrated CD of Camille Saint-Saens' music with Jack Prelutsky reciting his new verses.  It's awesome because you can pop in the CD and read along with it or just enjoy them separately.  Each section starts with Prelutsky's reading, followed by the relevant section of Camille Saint-Saens' music.
Rereadability:  Great book and CD to reread/relisten to.  There are 15 sections, including an intro and finale, so you can do it all at once or in chunks.  I love that you can skip around and play the different sections depending on what your little ones demand.  

Illustrations:  Fun and beautiful illustrations by Mary GrandPre, famous for her work on the American version of the Harry Potter series.  Her illustrations really stand out here with great movement and vivid colors.

Medals/Honors/Recognition:  N/A

Published: 2010

Length:  30 pages

(Read on for the more detailed "blabber" review)

Blabber

One day Gilt Groupe had a sale for children's books just before the holidays and I thought it might be nice to find a few good ones for my niece and nephew as gifts.  Sometimes searching on Amazon or Barnes and Noble can be a bit too overwhelming with too many options.  I liked how the Gilt sale had a limited selection with some books I hadn't heard of yet.  It was during this sale I picked up Petunia and some Tad Hills' books, all great but wordy books.  And then I came across The Carnival of the Animals, a book consisting of lyrics that you can read and listen to on a CD.  Perfect!  I figured it would be a good read for the all-day family events when we'd all be too busy and tired to read aloud a book 10 times in a row.  My niece and nephew LOVED both the book and the CD and still read and listen to it often, either together or separately.

The concept behind this book and CD is that Prelutsky recently wrote a set of lyrics to accompany Camille Saint-Saens' The Carnival of the Animals, composed in 1886.  It's a perfect introduction to classical music for children as it consists of a set of orchestral character pieces, with each depicting a particular animal.  Think of it as like Peter and the Wolf, where each character was represented by an instrument that complimented its nature and personality.  

Prelutsky has put together a great set of lyrics that captures the essence of the movements and has a great knack for words and rhythm.  Prelutsky uses clever plays on words and phrases, and  pinpoints the defining characteristics of each animal.  To this day whenever this book is mentioned my niece automatically rambles about how the lion is a king and the turtle carries a house on his back. 

I won't do a detailed play by play of each piece, since I wouldn't be able to do the lyrics justice with my shorthand summaries.  Instead, here's a brief outline of the lyrics so you know what animals the book covers:

• Intro
• The Lion
• Rooster and Hens
• The Donkeys of the Wild
• The Tortoise
• Elephants
• Kangaroos
• Aquarium
• Personages with Long Ears
• The Cuckoo
• Birds
• Pianists 
• Fossils
• The Swan
• Finale

Another strength of this book are the amazing illustrations by GrandPre, who is well-known for her illustrations in the American version of the Harry Potter series.  I think that her work really shines here, compared to in Harry Potter, as she uses vibrant colors and stylized set-ups to convey big movements and sounds in the lion, rooster, and donkey pages, but also beautifully captures the quiet stillness of the turtle and the swan.  My niece and nephew were entranced by the illustrations when they first opened it and fought over which pages they would stare at repeatedly.  I never fully appreciated GrandPre's illustrations in the Harry Potter books (partly because only the covers had color, and even those were muted down in darker tones), but here each page stands out in full page, brilliantly hued pictures.  

The book alone is wonderful, but it's the CD that really seals the deal here.  The CD is split up into sections with each portion consisting of Prelutsky's dramatic reading, followed by the relevant portion of the musical piece.  It really helps you and the little ones to sense the animal characteristics in the music after having just listened to Prelutsky's great lyrics.  And this worked perfectly during the holidays.  As the rest of us were busy catching up, cooking, and eating (and maybe a little drinking), the twins were engrossed in the book with the CD playing non-stop.  We didn't mind the non-stop playing, since the lyrics and music were a nice and festive background for the holidays anyways.  I think that this is a great purchase for any house that has little ones, and the book and CD can be something that they grow up with as they appreciate the lyrics better as they get older.  Just today I borrowed the book and CD for this review and when my nephew discovered they were gone he almost started crying and demanded that I be contacted immediately and reminded to bring it the next time I visit.  

Questions the little ones may ask you:

• Why is there a hand in the rooster's tail?
• Yeah this one is a little hard to explain.  I usually just say the artist did it because his tail looks like a hand.  I don't even want to try and explain what it means that he "appears demented" and how the finger gesture is a symbol of that.   
• Why does the turtle keep his house on his back?
• So he always has his house close by!  Or maybe he loves his house too much to let it go.
• Why are the kangaroos wearing pajamas?
• They love hopping so much they even do it while sleeping.
• Why are the cat's eyes so big?
• When you stand behind an aquarium, the glass makes you look bigger.
• Why are the moon and the sky cracked?
• Because the donkeys were too loud.
• Why do the birds have music on their feathers and in their eyes?
• Because they love music so much they wanted it all over their body.

Where to find The Carnival of the Animals?

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Borders

Go to your local book store or library!