Cover Image

Carnival of the animals

by Lithgow, John, 1945-

Format: Book on CD 2004
Availability: Available at 5 Libraries 5 of 5 copies

Available (5)
Location Collection Call #
Carnegie Library of McKeesport Children's AV JCD-KIT P LIT
Location  Carnegie Library of McKeesport
 
Collection  Children's AV
 
Call Number  JCD-KIT P LIT
 
 
Community Library of Castle Shannon Picture Book PICTURE BOOK Lithgow
Location  Community Library of Castle Shannon
 
Collection  Picture Book
 
Call Number  PICTURE BOOK Lithgow
 
 
Mt. Lebanon Public Library Children's Audio Books j CD KIT LITHGOW John
Location  Mt. Lebanon Public Library
 
Collection  Children's Audio Books
 
Call Number  j CD KIT LITHGOW John
 
 
Plum Community Library Easy Reader E FIC LIT
Location  Plum Community Library
 
Collection  Easy Reader
 
Call Number  E FIC LIT
 
 
Whitehall Public Library Picture Books PIC Lithgow
Location  Whitehall Public Library
 
Collection  Picture Books
 
Call Number  PIC Lithgow
 
 

Summary
But oh! what a fabulous night he had had,
When his world was turned into a zoo!
After wandering off from a school field trip, a young boy falls asleep in the Natural History Museum. There he sees his classmates, teachers, and family transformed into a menagerie of animals, from wild hyenas to stately peacocks.
John Lithgow's exhilarating word play, inspired by Camille Saint-Saëns's 1886 composition, provides a narrative arc to the piece for the first time. Lithgow created the text for the New York City Ballet, where the Carnival of the Animals ballet, with his narration, debuted in 2003. Boris Kulikov's witty artistic interpretation of the story adds to the fun.
A new recording of Saint-Saëns's suite, performed by Chamber Music Los Angeles under the direction of Bill Elliott, complete with John Lithgow's recitation of the text, is included on an enclosed CD.
Contents
Introduction
March of the lions
Hens and cockerels
Wild asses
Tortoises
The elephant
Kangaroos
Aquarium
Aviary
Persons with long ears
The pianists
The cuckoo in the deep woods
Fossils
The swan
Finale.
Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "Gr. 4-7. The initial premise of this narrative, inspired by Saint-Saens' musical composition and originally created to accompany a ballet, is appealing. A boy has a dream in which he imagines various people he knows as animals: a teacher is a lion, schoolchildren visiting a museum are rodents and their parents are fowl, and so on. The dramatic watercolor-and-gouache paintings, reminiscent of Sendak's fantastic portrayals of dream sequences, are quite imaginative, but the images (people with fangs and beaks) may scare some little ones. In addition, the lengthy, sophisticated text, in black type, often appears on mottled gray or brown backgrounds, making the words challenging to read. The key is to relate this ambitious work to its original purpose: to introduce the music and the ballet. Playing the included CD, which features the musical piece and Lithgow's dramatic reading, will help enliven and clarify the story. --Diane Foote Copyright 2004 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "In this story within a ballet within an orchestral suite, Lithgow (The Remarkable Farkle McBride) adapts to picture-book form a rhyming narration of composer Camille Saint-Sa?ns's 1886 composition Carnival of the Animals, which the author originated for the New York City Ballet last year (a music recording along with the author's ebullient narration accompanies the book). The resulting read-aloud takes a flight of fancy as well as a few leaps of logic. During a field trip to a natural history museum, Oliver Pendleton Percy the Third sneaks away from his class and hides among the taxidermic beasts in an exhibit labeled "under repairs." After closing, as Oliver sleeps with the fishes and antelopes, bears and beavers the boy dreams that the various people in his life take on the guise of the museum animals. His classmates morph into a pack of rule-breaking hyenas, his teacher a lion and his mother a tearful cuckoo searching for her chick. A kindly night watchman eventually facilitates Oliver's safe return home. Lithgow gleefully tackles the challenge of inventing a child-friendly story around the music's imagery. His penchant for employing often sophisticated and fun-to-pronounce words remains intact. However, as a stand-alone text, the dreamlike quality of the poem makes for some disjointed, stream-of-consciousness vignettes that may leave some readers scratching their heads. In addition, the author occasionally bends the story line to fit the rhyme scheme, with mixed success. Kulikov's (Morris the Artist) artwork acts as the glue here. He gamely stays in step, providing a fanciful plumed and furry menagerie of wild animal-human hybrids. His sophisticated yet playful treatment of size and perspective along with copious humorous details will have readers poring over many of the compositions. Ages 5-10. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Subjects Animals -- Fiction.
Museums -- Fiction.
Imagination -- Fiction.
Field trips -- Fiction.
Stories in rhyme.
Animals -- Fiction -- Juvenile sound recordings.
Museums -- Fiction -- Juvenile sound recordings.
Imagination -- Fiction -- Juvenile sound recordings.
Field trips -- Fiction -- Juvenile sound recordings.
Publisher New York :Simon & Schuster Audio,2004
Edition Limited ed.
Other Titles Carnaval des animaux.
Contributors Kulikov, Boris, 1966-
Elliott, Bill (Conductor)
Saint-Saëns, Camille, 1835-1921. Carnaval des animaux.
Participants/Performers Narrated by John Lithgow ; performed by the members of Chamber Music Los Angeles; Bill Elliot, conductor.
Language English
Notes Text is based on the narration written by John Lithgow for New York City Ballet choreographer Christopher Wheeldon's production of the orchestral suite: Carnival of the animals by Camille Saint-Saens.
Book illustrated by Boris Kulikov.
System Details Compact disc.
Description 1 audio disc (approximately 30 min.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 book (unpaged : color illustrations ; 25 x 29 cm)
ISBN 0689867212 (bk.)
Other Classic View