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.

These are stunningly beautiful musical books! My daughter absolutely adores them! The illustrations are bright and colorful! We already have a lot of these books.

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 love these books! I think the only improvement that could be made would be to make them rechargeable via a plug in cord rather than a battery. But my kids love these!

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!

We love this book! My 4 year-old loves the story and music. I love reading it to her and hope this sparks her appreciation for classical music and introduces her to ballet. The buttons are hard for little ones but it helps if the book is on a flat surface. The point of the book is the story and music and I love the illustration. Everything I expected and I highly recommend.

First of all, this is a beautiful book. Illustration uses the classic Swan Lake ballet scenes, vivid and with a lot of details. Another feature is that Tchaikovsky's music clips are embedded. It goes up and down as story proceeds. My six year old is a big fan of ballet so she enjoys the book a lot, while her best friend finds it's a very scary story and dislikes it. One thing I don't think it's proper is that three main characters Prince Siegfried, Odette and Odile are all colored with very dark skin. I understand that the illustrator wants to include multicultural elements to the story, which is good but please not the main characters! Swan lake is a fairy tale that originates a folk legend popular in Russia, German or related European area, so it's impossible that Prince Siegfried could have such a dark skin tone.

4year old granddaughter loved this book on Christmas Eve. It is beautiful as are all in this series.

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...

Essa coleção de livros é a maravilhosa. Temos aqui muitos livros infantis bonitos, mas essa coleção é uma das mais belas. Temos este, o quebra nozes e Bela dormecida. Confesso que entre os 3, esse ganha o terceiro lugar. Os outros 2 têm mais cenas interessantes, as músicas variam mais (este acaba sendo um pouco parecido demais página a página, mas pq a hisoria é meio assim...) Mas de quaquer forma, sao livros lindos e realmente retratam as peças de ballet (e nao o conto de fadas). Minha pequena bailarina é apaixonada por todos.

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