The classical storybook Tubby the Tuba is accompanied by a CD which uses an entire symphony to bring Tubby's story to life. This music features the oboe, flute, piccolo flute, trumpet, trombone, French horn, bassoon, violin, cello, xylophone, and percussion. This CD is perfect for longer car rides or at-home play time, as it will capture your child's attention and imagination.

This classic story has been entertaining children for more than 60 years. The characters are creative (musical instruments with faces) and sure to rev your little one's imagination in high gear. This is a great way for your child see many different types of instruments and associate them with the word, including tuba, bassoon, violin, flute, cello, oboe, trumpet, French horn, trombone, xylophone, and drum. There are also real measures of music on many pages, so your child can see what music 'looks' like. The vibrant pictures are shaded with colored pencil and have simple backgrounds, often even fading to white to help the characters pop off the page - particularly Tubby's bright golden hue. This is best seen when Tubby is sitting in the woods alone and the background is all shades of gray to signify that it's late in the evening, while Tubby is still brilliantly golden. The words on each page are set up creatively, sometimes located above the pictures, sometime below, and sometimes the words appear to be falling, like when they say Tubby was playing "Oh...so...slow" and each word is located lower on the page than the one before it. Italics add emphasis to sound effect words like, "oopah, oompah" and "bug-Gup", and alliteration adds even more fun with characters like "Peepo the Piccolo" and phrases like "My turn! Tooted the trumpet."

The different characters' dialogue provides great opportunities for you to add fun to the story by providing unique voices for each character - especially the frog. After a few readings, perhaps your little one will want to take over someone's lines and read with you. The pages are also filled with humor you and your child can enjoy together, whether it's the conductor's ridiculously long and thin mustache that sticks straight out or the violins which are offended and quite haughty toward Tubby when he refers to them as fiddles. The messages and morals in the book are also excellent starting points for important conversations with your little one. You can emphasize what a great friend Peepo is to Tubby, how it was wrong of the other instruments to tease and laugh at Tubby, or how brave Tubby was to have faith in himself to try something new even though he didn't know how it would turn out. Tubby broke through a stereotype that tubas cannot carry the melody.

I read this book with my four-year-old niece, Emily. She said the instrument-characters looked like 'Disney cartoons', and the bassoon really intrigued her. She asked if she could play an instrument and I told her she has lots of options of what to play, she can even be in her school band. She got very excited at this prospect and asked if she should play the tuba, like Tubby. I couldn't help laughing at the thought of tiny little Emily playing a tuba that is much larger than her, but I said, "You can play whatever you'd like, so long as you practice every day." Since then, she had changed her mind a few times from the tuba to the guitar, piano, flute, and most recently, the drums. I really hope it changes again for the sake of her parent's sanity!

--Audra

The narrator's theatrical voice draws in listeners from the first line, "Once upon a time, there was an orchestra, which was all busy tuning up." The introduction is immediately followed by the sounds of an actual orchestra turning their instruments and playing scales to warm up. The narrator continues with the story, making very few and slight deviations from the exact text of the book, pausing only to allow the music to emphasize the story. His flourishes are unexpected and fun, like when he rolls the 'r' when the violins respond to Tubby with "grrrrreat indignation!" Listeners will hear sounds a subtle as the tapping of the conductor's baton or the bells when the water is described as 'tinkling', as frequent as Tubby's "Oompah, oompah"s, and as grandiose as the full symphony 'laughing' at Tubby in the beginning through a capriccio melody. The music clearly matches the mood of the words through its tempo and instrument choice; when Tubby is feeling very sad and alone, the tempo slows to adagio and sounds sorrowful with only a few instruments used (primarily the tuba).

Children can either follow along with the book, or imagine the story while they listen. It will be fun for them to hear an actual voice sing Tubby's song about being lonely, or hear the lively voice of the frog, and they will most certainly want to say along with the frog, "Bug-Gup! Bug-Gup!" The CD has some educational opportunities as well. The name of the instrument is always mentioned before the instrument is heard playing, which will help your child begin to associate sounds with the correct instruments. You can even make a game of it to see how well they are paying attention by asking them which instrument is playing each time a new sound joins in. This will be easier for them if the CD is playing while flipping through the book at the same time.

This story was inspired in 1941 when, following the performance of Paul Tripp and George Kleinsinger's first musical piece, they thanked the musicians, and the tuba player said, "You know, tubas can sing too." Paul Tripp wrote the story of Tubby the Tuba that same night, and it was later put to music. Tubby the Tuba was shared with the world after WWII and became a hit instantly.

Paul Tripp (1911-2002) was an actor, writer, children's performer, and a pioneer of early children's television who created and starred in the award-winning Mr. I. Magination, On the Carousel, and Birthday House. He also wrote and performed in the classic holiday film The Christmas That Almost Wasn't.

My son is very into music, and this is one of the first books I have found that helps introduce lots of instruments, sounds, and also tells an adorable story of friendship, persistence, and trying new things. The book comes with a CD that we have really enjoyed as well.

--Lani, Gaithersburg, MD