Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin

Caldecott Honor Book 1996

Citation: Zin!  Zin!  Zin!  a Violin by Lloyd Moss.  Illus. by Marjorie Priceman, (Simon & Schuster, 1995). 27p. Traditional Picture Book.

Summary: A rhyming, counting journey as each instrument takes its turn in the symphony.  The verse of the story and the detailed illustrations present unfamiliar information in an easy to recall presentation.

Critique:

a.         A wonderfully written quatrain that introduces all of the instruments necessary for a symphony and how that instrument works together with the one before it.

b.      Each instrument is introduced with a rhyme, and how that instrument adds to the one before it to create a new numerical group.  The illustration of each new instrument is prominent with the previous instruments included in the background.  The addition of each new musical device provides the formal symphonic names based on the number in the group.

c.       “With steely keys that softly click, Its breezy notes so darkly slick, A sleek, black, woody CLARINET Is number SEVEN – now SEPTET” (p.14) provides a description of the instrument and how the addition of the clarinet changes the name of the group. Just like a symphony, “If we clap loud and shout, ‘Encore!’  They may come out and play once more” (p.26). 

Curriculum Connection:  Rhythm and count is just as important in music as the notes.  Zin!  Zin!  Zin!  a Violin combines all three of these elements in a delightful story perfect for every music classroom.