The Carnival of the Animals (Book & CD)

Prelutsky's poems are too long and pretentious for kids.My students (ages 6 and 7) get restless waiting for the music to begin.I finally burned a different CD to use with the pictures - we skip poetry but talk a little about the animal, what they hear etc. Maybe a publisher will someday use the poems of Ogden Nash - witty and short.

Product arrived in reasonably good condition (slight crease in back of dust jacket). I decided to read through the book before giving it to my children.The artwork was not as charming as I'd hoped, based on the cover art. More disappointing, though, was the poetry. My husband and I were both bothered by the negative tone of most of the poems, and a couple of them have misinformation (kangaroos DON'T jump all the time, but swans DO have songs). The poem about the Birds was sweet, but there were only a few others that weren't unflattering to their subjects. The poem about the Lion would likely give little children nightmares.It's frustrating; I was really hoping this would be a fun and engaging way to introduce the music to my children, but I guess I'll have to continue looking. I have no comment on the music or narration, as I did not use the CD included before deciding the product should be returned.

A beautifully illustrated book with cd! We have learned to appreciate both classical music, and instruments!!!

We bought this book/CD set for our grandchildren (boy 5 & girl 6) and although they do not hear classical music often at home it was a joy to listen to the 6 year old read the book (with help), listen to the music related to each animal and admire the beautifuly illustrated pictures of each while discussing it with them. What pleased me also was overhearing them afterwards, while playing & apparently still listening to track 16 (22 minutes of the original strickly music composition at the end of the CD), I could hear them call out 'that's the tortoise' or that's 'the fossils', even 'that's the Personages with long ears'. There is also a note to parents & teachers at the back of the book. I like to think our grandchildren will remember someday, enjoying that time with Grandma as I so often enjoy the memories of my older sister playing quality recordings for my brothers & me.

As a music teacher, I'm always looking for new ways to present classical music to my students. The verses that go with each piece of music in Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals add so much to the listening of the music. I not only bought this to use at school with my first graders, but bought two copies for my two granddaughters. We read and listened our way through the zoo until the CD began to skip and then refused to work! This is a wonderful resource, but check to see that the CD is in good working order when it arrives. Somehow one of them slipped through quality control! Jack Prelutsky is a favorite children's writer and has done a great job of describing the various animals in a humorous way, while at the same time giving the student something to listen for in the music.

I am a music teacher, and I bought this to do with my kindergartners. They all love it so much, especially the pictures! It comes with the CD, so you do have to upload the songs either onto your computer or iTunes, but that is not hard to do at all. I would highly recommend this for any elementary music teacher or a parent who just wants to have some fun with their kids!

Great book for music lovers and children alike. There are many fun and classic songs included and the illustrations on each page enhance the fun for children. It is poetry so my kids needed help understanding but they enjoyed it.

The poems are read apart from the music. The poet's reading reminded me of Anthony Perkins' performance as the villain in "Ffolkes": well enunciated but chilling. The music is one long track, not segmented so that a teacher or parent can easily select the musical movement to play while a particular poem is read.The musical performance was very good. I did like the poems, even though they were not like lyrics a la "Beethoven's Wig". I loved the illustrations.This was purchased as part of a K - 2 general class curriculum. My students would not be able to sit and take in 22 minutes straight of classical music. I will be using a different recording to play as I read a poem per day to the students.

I bought this to listen to with my granddaughter. It's a wonderful introduction to this lovely music.

My graddaughter especially loves the aquarium and the swan.I find that although the poems are lovely, I wish they were read with more enthusiasm - pitched at the younger listener.

This book is gorgeous cover to cover. The magnificent music of Saint Saens is perfectly accompanied by this little gem of a book. A great gift for children and parents, music and art lovers alike.

Es gibt drei Sterne dafür, dass das Buch wunderschön und die Musik sowieso einzigartig ist. Für Kinder genügt es vermutlich. Das ist aber auch schon alles. Die Musikstücke haben einen mehr oder weniger hohen Rauschpegel und scheppern sogar bei dem einen oder anderen Ton. Bei manchen Stücken fehlt schlichtweg die Tiefe - wie aus dem Schuhkarton... Man hört außerdem, dass die Stücke unter unterschiedlichen Bedingungen aufgenommen wurden, da sich die Klangtiefe des Orchesters doch deutlich von Stück zu Stück unterscheidet. Wirklich schade, habe z.B. mit CDs der deutschen Grammophon niemals solche Erfahrungen gehabt - und das trotz analoger Aufnahmen, die nachträglich auf CD gepresst wurden. Wer Wert auf ein Gesamtkonzept (Buch, Musik und Gedichtvortrag) legt und dem die Klangqualität des Orchesters nicht so wichtig ist, dem sei es gegönnt.

I like the book for the quality of the paper, the way is written for for the CD.