The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra

Donovan Bixley's The Animal Orchestra is a vibrant and playful picture book with an underlying environmental theme. It brings a lively cast of animal musicians to life, inviting young readers to join in the fun of rhythm and rhyme.

In the beginning, I found the pictures to be too busy and chaotic, but as I read on I realised that the author had made this choice deliberately, and it added to the enjoyment of the story.

This book would work well as a read-aloud. While reading aloud, focus on the different animal characters in the orchestra. After each animal's introduction, have the students mimic the sounds and talk about the animals they represent. Afterwards, you could play an audio recording of the real-life sounds of the animals featured, and compare them to the ones in the book.