The Band Over the Hill - Softcover

Shirley Isherwood

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0091873029 ISBN 13: 9780091873028

Publisher: Hutchinson, 1999

Synopsis

Edward James and Mr Manders can hear a band playing in the distance, and Mr Manders remembers he has some old uniforms and instruments in the attic. Ten minutes later, two very smart bears march from the house - Edward with his trumpet, and Mr Manders with his big bass drum.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-Grade 3?Mr. Manders, a portly bear, and his nephew, Edward James, introduced in Something New for a Bear to Do (Hutchinson, 1996), reappear in this delightful British import. Upon hearing a marching band, the bears dash to the attic, unearth an ancestor's old band uniforms, grab their instruments, and begin a trek over the countryside in search of the musicians. Edward James has some distress about his incorrectly fastened buttons, but Mr. Manders is too excited to notice. Caught by a sudden shower, the two take refuge in the woods, and soon both are napping. Some mice who have been following in the bears' wake scurry out from the undergrowth and properly rebutton Edward James's jacket. Finally, giving up on finding the others, uncle and nephew decide to play for the mice and they march down the hill only to find that they are out in front and the band is following their lead. After returning home, the bears marvel at how, in the end, things usually turn out right. The pair look resplendent in their bright red, gold-trimmed outfits. The text's subtlety is reinforced by thoughtful details in the illustrations: the mice gazing at their reflections in Mr. Manders's shiny boots, the tops of the marching band's hats just visible behind a bush, and, finally, the sleeve of a repacked uniform trailing from the chest marked with their ancestor's initials, a reminder of the glories of the day.?Peggy Morgan, The Library Network, Southgate, MI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Mr. Manders and Edward James, a pair of bears who are father and son, have always wanted to be in a marching band. When they hear one coming down the lane, they run up to the attic and don a couple of splendid band uniforms that are conveniently stored there. Grabbing a bass drum and a toy trumpet they hurry off to join the band. Their difficulties in catching up to the band are punctuated by Edward James's pleas for his father to help him align the buttons and buttonholes on his small uniform so that they will be (as is required by a marching band) ``exactly right.'' Mr. Manders is too excited to pay any attention, but when the pair doze off under a tree during a rainstorm, mice get Edward James straightened out; later, Mr. Manders and Edward James triumphantly lead the parade. Cartwright brings resplendence to the page, trotting out bright red uniforms trimmed in gold braid; preschoolers will easily spot the source of Edward James's dismay. Isherwood's very forced, prolonged plot has an arbitrary feel, and while the child's preoccupation with his buttons is realistic, the father's single-minded pursuit, at his son's expense, appears unreasonable, and very nearly mean. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hutchinson
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0091873029
• ISBN 13: 9780091873028
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Reg Cartwright