Emily JiangCritiques

I think that this book was interesting. It went through different cultures and showed the different instruments that can be played. I thought it was more informative, not a story with a plot. Which I still think is interesting, I think that the big picture would be to just inform students about the different types of instruments and what types of sounds they make. I illustrations were great and fun to look at. I would recommend this book to others.

Good poetry and factual information about 15 Chinese instruments. Excellent pronunciation guidance for each instrument. Diverse student musicians in many (lovely) settings illustrate the poetry and instruments.

A beautifully illustrated, informative look at Chinese musical instruments.

Summoning the Phoenix is a collection of poetry that all have a common theme. The poems revolve around different Chinese instruments. I enjoyed this book very much due to its Illustrations and its helpful information. Every page is about a different instrument and is illustrated with vivid colors that depict the instrument being mentioned. Along with the instrument, beautiful illustrations of Chinese landscape accompany the poem. On the page with the poem "Painting with Sound," there is a wonderful illustration of cherry blossoms and mountains in the background. Along with the illustrations, every page has side bars with information on the instrument. After reading the poem, the reader can refer to the the side bar to learn more about the given instrument. On the poem "Warming up," the side bar teaches the reader what a Mouth Organ is. The main message of this book is learning about Chinese musical instruments.

This is a book of poetry through out the book it takes you through a journey of different Chinese instruments. The book also tells you what the instruments are, how they sound and how they are played. In the book the illustrations show the describing words in the poems. I like this book because it shows children that there are different cultures with different instruments. I like this because even though they are telling you about a different instrument they relate it to an instrument that the child maybe more familiar with and can relate to.

I like this book because it shows children that there is more than one culture out in the world and that the cultures may have different instruments than what they are familiar with, for example in the book they show a Chinese stringed instrument and compare it to a violin. Another reason I like this book is that in the illustrations it shows you what the poems are talking about like when the book talks about blowing into the flute, and shows a wind blowing in the illustration. I like this book because it teaches children about different culture and music.