The Remarkable Farkle McBride

We were learning about Orchestra in our homeschool group and this was a hit!

Truly a wonderful read for children.

My daughter is very musical! She is now 19! We read Thai book a lot! My older kids are married and have children of their own! So I bought one for each family!This is an heirloom story! Loved for generations!I read it to them and it's catchy- so they learn to read it quickly!

I heard this goofy looking actor wrote great kids books so I checked this out at the library. Loved it so much I got it for a Christmas present for a preschooler. It has a decent story without teaching any (obvious) clear lessons or morals. The kids love it because of the funny sounds and onomatopoeia. But more than anything I like the expansion of vocabulary (all musical and instrument-based words) outside of what you normally get out of a picture book. My 3 yr old who is an avid reader definitely came across words and phrases she had not been exposed to previously which gave us a chance to talk more about music. The pictures are a tad on the dark side, but the cartoony appearance of the character helps keep the kids intrigued to see what happens next. See my photos to get a better idea of the illustrations.

Farkle McBride is a musical genius. At the age of three he plays the violin. At five it's the flute, at seven the trombone, and at nine he's mastered percussion. However, Farkle is never quite satisfied and destroys each of his instruments a year after mastering them. It isn't until he's ten that he realizes that what he loves best is hearing all the instruments together and is called upon to conduct an orchestra.Lithgow has a wonderful sense of rhyme and the onomatopoeia is a delight. C.F. Payne's illustrations are beautiful and his Farkle looks rather similar to a young John Lithgow.Kids enjoy listening to the book and if you really want to read into it, it's filled with lessons. For example, the book introduces children to the wondrous sounds of an orchestra and it illustrates that it's good to try new things and keep learning.I didn't not like the fact that Farkle destroys every instrument he owned. That illustrates the Farkle is basically a spoiled brat whose parents obey his every whim. Of course, that whole characteristic of Farkle could be used as a lesson, too. Then again, maybe Lithgow never intended for there to be any lessons in the book. Some books, after all, are just fun to read in and of themselves. In that case, it's a very fun and entertaining story to read.

It's fast pace, intense, neurotic, ambitious, dream and goal and passion finding flutter through the words as you read about The Remarkable Farkle Mcbride finding his place within the orchestra. He tries out all the instruments until he finds what suits him just right. My son loved this book read over and over. He is now 23yo and still loves any memory associated with me reading this book to him. Use your fun fast excited voice to read aloud. Worth every penny.

Out of about 100 books bought in the last 2 months for our two year old, this is the only one that we're returning and don't want to read to him. It's not that what other reviews praise about the story and pictures isn't true, it's just that the story and pictures also depict values and actions that we are not comfortable exposing to our young child although I seriously considered keeping the book for myself because I personally liked it. The main character is not a very good role model. (Because we are both parents and early childhood and elementary educators, we may be more attuned to and concerned about role models in books, which may not be as big of an issue or concern to others so this book may be fine depending on one's particular sensitivies and orientation.) Not every child is a childhood prodigy like Farkle McBride and particularly with certain issues that surround children in today's American culture and media, I am concerned about a child being exposed to a character who can master something without trying that hard or practicing or sticking to it and who easily gives up what they're doing because they get bored. Though not automatically negative, there's a bit of concern that a message is being sent suggesting that the one who is in charge (e.g. the conductor) has a better job than the others. Though amusing from an adult point of view, the book has images of instruments being broken in pieces or thrown away because the child is bored of them - not a good model for caring for personal property and respecting the investment (monetary and time) made by his parents to support his interests. We love Lithgow's other children's CDs and some of his other works but considering the selection of books out there, I think one can easily make a better choice for stories about children and music (e.g. for whole orchestra books try "Zin, Zin, Zin, A Vioin", the Gustav Mole books, "The Hippo Hop", "The Story of the Incredible Orchestra", and for less than full orchestra books, "Mole Music", "Song and Dance Man").

I bought this book for our adult musician son who loves it! His 2 year old also loves it and wants to hear it over and over and over. It is so well written, the illustrations are great, and it's fun to read and rolls off your tongue beautifully.