Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo

by John Lithgow, Leeza Hernandez (Illustrator)

Overview

This lively and lyrical jaunt from actor and author John Lithgow comes with a CD of his celebrated song!

Oh, children! Remember! Whatever you may do,
Never play music right next to the zoo.
They’ll burst from their cages, each beast and each bird,
Desperate to play all the music they’ve heard.

A concert gets out of hand when the animals at the neighboring zoo storm the stage and play the instruments themselves in this hilarious picture book based on one of John Lithgow’s best-loved tunes. This package includes a CD of John and an orchestra performing the song!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442467439
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	10/22/2013
Edition description:	Book and CD
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	67,269
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	2 - 6 Years

About the Author

John Lithgow is the New York Times bestselling author of I Got Two Dogs; Mahalia Mouse Goes to College; Marsupial Sue Presents: The Runaway Pancake; I’m A Manatee; Micawber; Marsupial Sue; The Remarkable Farkle McBride; and Carnival of the Animals. An award-winning actor, he has starred on stage, film, and television. He performs concerts across the country and has recorded the CDs Farkle and Friends, Singin’ in the Bathtub, and The Sunny Side of the Street. Visit John at JohnLithgow.com.

Leeza Hernandez, an award-winning illustrator and now children’s book author, hails from the south of England, but has been living in New Jersey since 1999. She works as an art director at a local magazine and in her spare time, creatively noodles with new ideas for books in her art studio. She loves to experiment with printmaking, pen and ink, digital collage, and painting.

Editorial Reviews

…[a] zany and toe-tapping song, illustrated with comic abandon…

The New York Times Book Review - Sarah Harrison Smith

08/19/2013
After a boy falls asleep at an outdoor concert near the zoo, mayhem erupts: “All at once the conductor erupted with rage!/ A band of wild animals was storming the stage!” Lithgow (I Got Two Dogs) describes the chaos in high-spirited verse (which he also sings on an accompanying CD): “The monkeys played fiddle, the bison played bass,/ the percussions were manned by the camel./ The yak played the sax until red in the face—/a surprisingly musical mammal.” The premise has lots of comedic potential, and Hernandez (Dog Gone!) delivers: a flautist fends off a bear and two raccoons with her music stand and, later, a blue tutu-wearing hippo blasts the tuba “by the light of the silvery moon.” Readers get an incidental introduction to various instruments, but light nonsense is this book’s raison d’être. Although some rhymes feel padded or extraneous (immediately after the concert, the animals “each reminisced, so grateful and glad,/ so full of contentment and pride”), it’s a frisky addition to the author’s oeuvre of musical picture books. Ages 2–6. Author’s agent: Lark Productions. Illustrator’s agent: Rachel Orr, Prospect Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"A particularly good story hour choice."

Booklist

"A particularly good story hour choice."

Booklist

2013-09-15
One can easily guess from Lithgow's admonishing title just what might be in store. A boy and his family go to an outdoor concert in the park. However, the band shell happens to be right next to the zoo. (Cue disaster chord.) Suddenly, the animals storm the stage, knocking over the musicians and grabbing all of the instruments. Lithgow pleads with readers: "Oh, children! Remember! / Whatever you may do, / never play music right next to the zoo. / They'll burst from their cages, each beast and each bird, / desperate to play all the music they've heard." The ferret plays the flute, the yak plays the sax, the bonobo plays the oboe (naturally), and the goat…well, the goat just eats the sheet music. Hernandez's digital art shines during the frantic tussles between the orchestra members and the animals. They won't give up their instruments without a fight! In an oft-used trope, the little boy finds out that he was just dreaming in the end. But that brings up Lithgow's second most important rule: Never fall asleep during a concert! Move over, Carnival of the Animals (illustrated by Boris Kulikov, 2004); here's another snappy, yet lighter and younger, zoological fantasy to add to Lithgow's repertoire. (CD included) (Picture book. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews

PreS-Gr 2—This zany picture book follows a boy who attends a concert next to the zoo. Bored with the performance, he begins dozing off when suddenly the animals take over the stage. "The lions and the elephants,/the bears and the raccoons/will steal away the trumpets,/the flutes and bassoons,/replace the musicians, and chase them away/Then they'll sit in the band shell/and play." The humorous verse is full of zoo creatures and instruments that children will likely want to learn more about. The digital artwork matches the tone and text perfectly. Children will be giggling at both the song and the illustrations, such as the one of a hippo playing a tuba. This would be a great storytime book, and it even includes a CD of Lithgow singing the tune with an orchestra.—Brooke Rasche, La Crosse Public Library, WI

School Library Journal