Sounds Good!

This book has illustrations of 50 different instruments. There are QR codes for music. The description of instruments include what is also difficult about the instrument. I think it is a very honest book.

This book was so much fun! There were many musical instruments, each with their own pages. Each had a brief description, including a physical description, short history, and usage. So you learned what the instruments are made of and what kind of bands or whatever you'll see them in. These are accompanied by cute pictures so you know what they look like.
Also in each section there is a QR code. I downloaded the app so I could scan QR codes and scanned each one, then listened to the short demonstration of each musical instrument on YouTube. So much fun!
I would recommend this for anyone who wants a brief introduction to different kinds of musical instruments, and it would be particularly helpful for middle school kids who are getting ready to choose an instrument to play at school.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I requested this book as someone who has been a music teacher for the past 10 years. I am always searching for books to use in my classroom that revolve around music, for storytime and classroom resources.

"Sounds Good!" discusses 50 different instruments. Each page has a QR code to play a recording of the instrument on that page, as well as a brief one paragraph explanation of the instrument and an illustration.

What I liked about this book is that there was a great representation of different instruments, not only western instruments, but also ones such as the sitar and conga drums. I also thought it was great to have a QR code with a recording, so someone young who is reading this can actually hear what the instrument sounds like.

The one thing that would make me hesitate to put this in my classroom is the picture on the violin page. It links the violin with the devil and the picture is of the devil dancing on fire. Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the reference and connection, but as a teacher, I would be fired for showing a book with that page in it. The paragraphs on each instrument are super short, 2-3 sentences at most, and I find it questionable that the ONLY information on the violin page links the instrument to the devil??? There wasn't anything else that you could think of? I would ask the publisher to reconsider that page because other than that, I think this would be a wonderful resource for the classroom. But parents would be up in arms about that one page.

My only other suggestion/complaint is that there is a lot of blank space on the pages with the information on each instrument. In fact space enough for another paragraph. I would think there is plenty of information that the author could have expanded on to fill up that space.

This book would be great for elementary school aged kids. It could be used for research or as an activity/story time in the classroom minus the one page on violin.

Sounds good is a great introduction for children to over 50 instruments. I love the layout of this book that includes each instrument to have a spread, an animal playing the instrument in an illustration, and a QR code for access to an example of music played by the instrument. This would be a great text to give students an interactive way to learn about instruments.

Sounds Good has cute illustrations and a lot of interesting information. There are all kinds if instruments, both common and rare, western and world, representing a variety of types of music. The author uses a bit of humor and whimsy to describe the instruments.

I liked the idea of having QR codes to follow to YouTube videos of the sounds of different instruments.

Sounds Good provides a wonderful introduction to more than 50 instruments, from ACCORDION to VIBRAPHONE. While aimed at children, this illustrated book would prove educational for adults, too. Did you know about the instruments called the Kalimba and the Lur? I didn’t! Did you know the English horn is more often called the Cor Anglais? I didn’t! What is the only thing that would improve this book for children? Well, making all the musicians animals, of course! Which
authors Ole Könnecke and Hans Könnecke have done, making this book perfect.

Sounds Good is a book that literally also sounds good: With each instrument entry, the Könneckes include a QR code that will take readers to music with that particular instrument. I couldn’t ask for more.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and GeckoPress in exchange for honest review.

Sounds Good! is a fun and humorous introduction to a wide variety of musical instruments. Even though it is intended for children, adult will learn a thing or two from this book, including facts about the theremin, the zither, and the kalimba, in addition to the more widely-known instruments such as the violin and the trumpet. I appreciate the diversity of non-western musical instruments and including their history. Even though each page only includes a small paragraph about the instrument, I believe that this is the perfect amount of information for the book to be a non-intimidating family read-aloud.

The watercolor illustrations of animals playing the instruments are adorable, sometimes putting the animal and instrument in a "scene" that is reflected in the background of the recordings. For example, the cello page depicts an animal playing the cello under a tree with bees buzzing around. In the recording, you can hear a bee buzzing along with the cello music. These sound effects are a charming detail.

I love the interactive idea of using the QR codes to link to recordings on YouTube. And, the fact that all these musical pieces were all composed by the author is astounding. I am a musician myself and I think they sound great and will keep children's attention.

I agree with the one other reviewer who mentioned not liking that the violin is depicted and described as being the devil's instrument. It's very strange when all the other descriptions and illustrations are factual. I would hate for this one page to turn off families from learning the violin or from the book itself.

This is a marvelous treat for the eyes, mind, and ears! There are animals playing instruments whose history is described in a fun paragraph and the QR takes you to a short listen on YouTube. There are even some very unusual but real instruments included!
The book is delightfully illustrated in simple brilliant colors by Ole Könnecke who also wrote the fun, the music is created by Hans Könnecke and easily accessed via QR code to YouTube, and the words are translated by Melody Shaw
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age, great for gifting to anyone, including ESL, but especially to a school or your public library!
I requested and received a temporary electronic copy on Adobe Digital Editions from Gecko Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
I promptly preordered copies to go to Ohio and Indiana, might get one for local library, too.

This book presents 50 instruments and has a QR code on each page to hear the respective instrument. A great introduction for children, and adults will likely learn something new too!

Thank you NetGalley and Gecko Press for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own.