One Bunny Band

PreS-K—Created by composer Belinda Takahashi, this production introduces young children to the musical concepts of tempo (allegro/adagio), dynamics (forte/piano), and style (legato/staccato). Featuring cute puppets, this video follows the musical adventures of Juno (a young girl voiced by Takahashi), her baby brother Rai Rai, and their pets: Indie the cat, Bunny the rabbit, and Murphy the caterpillar. Following the introduction, Juno and Rai Rai take a train to Harmonia Springs, a musical land with colorful computer-generated backgrounds. The pair finds Bunny running an unsuccessful Serenade Stand, so Bunny decides to become a one bunny band, following everyone around and playing music to match their moods. Unfortunately, Bunny plays the wrong kind of music in each situation. For example, when Indie wants a soft, soothing song to put his teddy bear to sleep, Bunny plays a loud, fast polka. Juno demonstrates a soothing song by singing "Juno's Lullaby." At the race between Indie and Murphy, Bunny plays slow, soft music instead of fast, exciting music, and so on. Eventually Bunny learns how to play appropriate music for each situation. Most of the original songs in are fully orchestrated, and additional music by Ravel, Mozart, and Vivaldi is included. Spanish and French narration is available. A bonus section includes an interactive quiz and language flash cards (in English, Spanish, and French). This gentle, humorous introduction to musical concepts will be welcome in library collections for young children.—Beverly Wrigglesworth, San Antonio Public Library, TX