The Story Orchestra: Swan Lake: Press the note to hear Tchaikovsky's music (Volume 4)

This series is amazing. My son loves to listen along to the story and the music! Illustrations are beautiful as well.

I have slowly been purchasing this series for a friends children .Just gave this one and the 6 year old little girl was beaming. This series is BEAUTIFUL! Introduces classic musical masterpieces to little ones through the joy of reading.

I bought all of these books, and I am leaving this same review on all of them. My two-year-old loves them! The music is very clear as long as you hold the book upright, and, to be honest, I am surprised by how clear it is even when it's laying down. The illustrations are beautiful, and there are so many things to look at on each page! For instance, in the Four Seasons book, there are easter eggs in spring, and on one page in another book, there is a tiny spider. I could talk to my toddler about one page for five minutes easily because there is so much to look at. In some of the books, there are some thoughtful illustrations to demonstrate the instruments being played. In the Carnival of Animals book, there is a bunny playing a flute, for instance, when there is music that is mostly played by flutes. Also my toddler is able to press the buttons. It is a little hard, but he manages it okay. Well worth the price tag!

I am a ballet teacher, and I purchased this book for a Swan Lake-themed kids' summer workshop. The children absolutely love getting to press the buttons to play the music (it's difficult for them to press hard enough through the pages while I'm holding the book, so I flip to the back where the buttons are repeated). They also love the illustrations, especially the beautiful Queen and, of course, Odette. The story is a fairly straightforward, slightly simplified version of the ballet libretto. Swan Lake is a ballet with multiple possible endings depending on which company performs it, and I was glad that this edition chose a happy ending for Odette and Siegfried, although this story adds that Odile and Rothbart are cursed to remain as a swan and an owl forever. Each page corresponds to a fairly short (8 bars or so) but good-quality audio clip of the orchestra. The musical selections were well chosen, using some of the most well-known themes of the ballet (the Act 1 Valse, the Act 2 Cygnets or "four little swans," the opening and closing theme of Act 2, etc.). I personally might have chosen Odette's variation instead of the pas de deux, but the pas de deux music conveys the emotion of the scene much more effectively. Tchaikovsky's score is so evocative, and the short sound bytes are really effective for young children. Additionally, I appreciate that the editors got around any potential confusion regarding the black swan pas de deux (different companies use one of two different pas de deux because of historical drama is worth reading about if you're interested) by instead using the piece of music after the pas de deux, when Odile and Rothbart reveal themselves. This piece of music also reinforces the main musical motif of the ballet. This would be a great book for a grown-up to read to a pre-reader or early reader. A young reader would have to know a lot of sight words to be able to read this book on their own, but the vocabulary is not terrible complex and there aren't too many words on the page. I would like to add one final note of appreciation for the illustrator. The pictures are not only beautifully drawn and vibrantly colored, but the illustrator made several characters, including Siegfried, the Queen, and Odette herself, people of color. This is a rarity in fairy tales and even more so in ballet, which has been populated predominantly by white dancers since its creation. It's a refreshing change to see many different skin tones represented in a fantasy story. The only thing I can't comment on is the battery life of the book, since it's new. I'll do what I can to preserve it. I have a small lending library in my studio so I'll see if there's a way to remove or switch off the battery until the book is checked out. I look forward to purchasing more books from this collection for my little dancers to enjoy.

I bought this book , the first of the 7 existing classical music masterpieces based on the most romantic and beloved tales, hoping it will interest my grandchildren. The book was a tremendous success. I immediately ordered the whole 7. The pictures are fantastic, the sound of music good, the only thing that is worth improvement is the touch of the operating dots in the books- very hard to push and therefore to operate for kids.

I purchased a lot of these books because I saw how very engaged my 3 year old granddaughter was as we sat and read one together. Of all her books she’ll choose these to read one after the other the most!

I adore these books and I quickly bought the entire collection. My kids love them and we read them over and over. It's important to mention that the books themselves are a bit flimsy and get destroyed easily. I want the author to know this because they are so wonderful. But anything in the hands of kids under 6 is going to get a bit roughed up and I think she should adjust the product a little bit to make it a little more able to take a beating. The sound itself is exceptionally good. It's the spine of the book and the way the pages easily separate from the center and fall out that is the issue.

My baby is obsessed with this music book. Very good idea.

C'est magique, c'est plein de poésie et, une fois de plus, les illustrations de Jessica Courtney Tickle vous emmènent dans un monde féerique...

We have the sleeping beauty one and love it so I bought this for my daughter and I to read as well. Just like the first one this book is beautifully illustrated and the music is lovely and you can hear it very clearly. Really like this brand of books. This is our second one and I’m very happy with the quality.

Very good quality book. Cover is fantastic looking and the music is clear. I had got the baby book and was disappointed in the short storyline, this book is much more interesting!

My kid really loves this book and the story! We finally understand this classical ballet and can enjoy it more. It's a beautifuly illustrated book! And after reading, my daughter said "i like this man" pointing at Tchaikovsky

Minha filha gostou muito, apesar de ainda nao ter forca pra apertar os botoes. As ilustracoes sao lindas.