Editorial Review

Children's Literature (Barbara L. Talcroft)

Part of the ‘Music Makers’ series for young readers, this volume features large, attractive photographs, very simple text and a collection of facts about trumpets. Each book in the series identifies the family to which its instrument belongs and tells a bit about its history, how the instrument is made and how it produces its sound. Photos of different varieties of the instrument from many countries around the world are an appealing feature of each volume. The text of Trumpets is enlivened by illustrations of jazz trumpeters (including Louis Armstrong), brass players in a marching band and an exotic Indian trumpet decked with red ribbons and spangles. The brightly colored photos in the entire series are generally well-chosen, clear and often striking. The information is minimal, but can serve as an introduction to the instrument for children who have heard it played and are curious to know more. A teacher would probably want to use this series with other books like Lloyd Moss’s Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin! to convey more of the sound of the instruments and something of the joy of making music. Better would be to pair each with recordings, or best of all, to have live musicians visit the classroom as each book is used, both to provide music on that instrument and to answer questions that are sure to arise. Short glossaries and indices are provided.

—Barbara L. Talcroft

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