ROAR-chestra! A Wild Story of Musical Words

Robert Heidbreder and Dušan Petričić are two talented and highly creative figures in the field of Canadian children’s literature. One can rightly expect that a collaboration between the two is likely to produce an enjoyable book. ROAR-chestra! A Wild Story of Musical Words is an energetic and fun introduction to musical terms for young readers. Petričić’s cover artwork features instrument cases in the shapes of animals, a preview of what the reader can expect inside the book. What that reader can expect is not just an introduction to musical terms but a fun way to think about music. The book conveys the meaning of seven musical terms including allegro, dolce, and fortissimo.

In Petričić’s pen and ink illustrations, he uses pictures of animals to help convey the meanings of the musical terms. The conductor and his animal orchestra’s movements interpret and reflect each term. For instance, staccato is said to mean “short [and] detached”. The jumpy nature of the term is emphasized by an illustration including kangaroos, rabbits, frogs, grasshoppers, and other jumping creatures. For fortissimo, Heidbreder’s written text reads, “Loudly crashing, roaring, stamping!” The illustrated animals include elephants, a gorilla, and a lion all bellowing at the tops of their voices.

Heidbreder’s lyrical text and Petričić’s artwork complement one another to present an enticing, informative, and understandable introduction to music for young readers. In addition to the carefully selected brief main written text, the seven Italian musical terms are defined on a closing page that also includes a pronunciation guide. ROAR-chestra! A Wild Story of Musical Words is a fun but informative book that will appeal to young children beginning their musical and literacy journeys.