The Maestro Plays

by Bill Martin Jr., Vladimir Radunsky (Illustrator)

In this cunningly, punningly performed tour de force, Maestros Bill Martin Jr and Vladimir Radunsky show readers just how masterfully they can play with words (while also teaching them about adverbs).

Bravo! Bravissimo!

Genres: Picture Books, Music, Childrens, Fiction, Storytime, Words

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Bill Martin, Jr. (1916-2004) was an elementary-school principal, teacher, writer, and poet. His more than 300 books, among them the bestselling classics Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See ; Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear ; Panda Bear Panda Bear What Do You See ; and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom , are a testament to his ability to speak directly to children. Martin held a doctoral degree in early childhood education. Born in Kansas, he worked as an elementary-school principal in Chicago before moving to New York City, where he worked in publishing, developing innovative reading programs for schools. After several years, he devoted himself full-time to writing his children's books. He lived in New York until 1993, when he moved to Texas. He lived in the east Texas woods, near the town of Commerce, until he passed away in 2004.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/billma...

Reviews

[Jenna (Falling Letters) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one could be a lot of fun...I found myself whispering the words with varying emphasis as I read it to myself.

[Amy Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book with bright and bold illustrations and a colorful vocabulary.  Filled with onomatopoeias and full page artwork, this easily makes for a great bedtime story for a young child--especially if one of you loves music!  This book shows the maestro's song from beginning to end, showing not only what he plays but where he plays it--sometimes on a high tight-rope, sometimes underwater, sometimes loudly, sometimes quietly.  And after the climax of his song, the audience erupts into clapping and cheering, thus ending the book.  This was fun, perhaps a great preamble to other books like Jazz Baby, Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, or even Hip Hop Dog and Blues Journey (which are for a slightly older age range).   

Just good, plain ol' fun!

Review cross-listed here!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I plan on using this book for music themed story time. There are lots of fun sounds and words and the illustartion are nice and bold but I feel like you have to work a little to pull this story off nicely because the sounds seem to skip around in strange ways. For example the maestro "PLAYS PROUDLY. HE PLAYS LOUDLY " right on the first page (so you have to ge loud, right). Then he plays "slowly" (okay cool, got it) but then he starts playing reachingly? wingingly? The author mixes strange word combination that can be a little jarring (but the words do rhyme so that helps).

[Sara Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the itty-bitties and the Pre-K to 2nd grade crowd, alike, will be entranced with this book. The vivid pictures and rhythmic wordery (I made up a word!) will appeal to the very young, while older kids will benefit from the story of the maestro, who bends and shapes the sounds coming from his instruments in the same way that Martin plays his words. The use of one's voice, in a read-aloud, could be used to real advantage with this story. Also, great for familiarizing youngsters with various musical instruments and their potential affects. (Technically: incorrect usage... I'm on a total roll today!)

[Ann-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a colorful, interesting book that begs to be read aloud. We don't read the entire book, because my son only wants us to read his favorite pages. He likes the trumpet page ("He plays busily, he plays dizzily"), the page where "the maestro stops...(and) mops his brow," and the last page with the BRAVOs and CLAP CLAP CLAP.

It's a solid 3-star book.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty weird. But cool colors and descriptive words.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever use of words (by Bill Martin Jr.) and wildly creative illustrations (by Vladimir Radunsky) may charm some highly verbal children.

FIVE STARS for making the brave creative attempt.

Best case, the adult reader will add many, many sound effects.

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martin Odyssey #35
Clever and interesting book will perhaps have specific applications for use by groups, or it can just be enjoyed by an individual, could be a springboard for discussions about words and language.

[Melissa Namba · Rating 3 out of 5]

good for toddlers, but I don't think it will interest kids over 5.simple images, basic ideas of adverbs.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very colourful, good for reading aloud with help from small readers

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird! Not bad, just really weird.

[Tracy Schillemore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best for a younger crowd. I found that I actually had to stop and think how I would pronounce some of the made up words.

[Brenda Cregor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The saving grace of this book, is that I am a teacher and this book plays with ADVERBS and their use and creation.
Where else can one find an orange nosed multi-talented character, such as the Maestro, to teach this part of speech.
There is no story, but that is not why I bought it, or why I read it to my students.

[Guen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is boring! It also teaches about adverbs? Okay, so I will give it one star for that. I still didn't like it. And my five-year-old son said, "I hate that book". I guess that means he would give it zero stars. He doesn't care if it teaches about adverbs. That is clearly not a good enought reason to read this book. There has got to be a better way to learn about adverbs.

[Christi · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I were to rate this on how much we liked it, it would have to be a two, but to rate it on readability and how much it could help a child with learning sounds, it would have to be a 5. It is a clever book in that aspect and uses nonsense words to teach.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

35 months - this book has bright bold colors great for babies but unfortunately all it made me want to do was attempt to imitate the musical instruments which I'm very unsuccessful at. I don't know what a baby or toddler would get out of this book without the sounds to go with it.

[Belise Michel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for vocabulary building. It is also great for rhyming words. It is fun to read. It always a child to play with the sounds the letters makes. This book is a great tool to use when introducing the concept of opposites to children.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eli's latest library book - very colorful and fun to read, but the "creative" word usage really tripped up the kids. They are all about figuring words out themselves right now, and the silly made-up words only confuse them.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the simple, bold, colorful illustrations of this book so much. I also liked how the illustrations change angles and don't always follow the norm.

I honestly can't remember much of the story, the illustrations are what stick with you.

[Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

All little weird, but I was read this multiple times when I was young. Sadly, someone left it laying open on the floor and I stepped on it and ripped a page accidentally. My parents' copy from years ago :(

Full review coming soon...

[Randie D. Camp, M.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The maestro plays in many different places and in many different ways.

I love the vocabulary in this book. What a fun way to get students thinking about word choice!

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading Rainbow: Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin
We just looked at each other and shrugged after reading this.

[Christen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big bold pictures and fun words. Reading for my Rhythm and Music storytime.