Horace and Morris Join the Chorus (but what about Dolores?) (Horace and Morris and Dolores) - Hardcover

Howe, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689839391 ISBN 13: 9780689839399

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2002

Synopsis

Horace and Morris, but mostly Dolores, are back again for another uproarious adventure. When the three best friends decide to try out for the school chorus together, they're shocked when Dolores (who can only sing notes that no one has ever heard before) is the only one who doesn't make the cut. After all, they've always done everything together.
Once Horace and Morris start chorus practice, they're so busy that they don't have time to go exploring or climb trees with Dolores anymore. Feeling left out and alone, Dolores decides to take matters into her own hands. But can she prove to Moustro Provolone that there's a place for every kind of voice in the chorus?

About this title

About the Author

James Howe is the author of more than ninety books for young readers. Bunnicula, coauthored by his late wife Deborah and published in 1979, is considered a modern classic of children’s literature. The author has written six highly popular sequels, along with the spinoff series Tales from the House of Bunnicula and Bunnicula and Friends. Among his other books are picture books such as Horace and Morris but Mostly Dolores and beginning reader series that include the Pinky and Rex and Houndsley and Catina books. He has also written for older readers. The Misfits, published in 2001, inspired the nationwide antibullying initiative No Name-Calling Week, as well as three sequels, Totally Joe, Addie on the Inside, and Also Known as Elvis. A common theme in James Howe’s books from preschool through teens is the acceptance of difference and being true to oneself. Visit him online at JamesHowe.com.

Amy Walrod won the Golden Kite Award for The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza. Her first picture book for Atheneum was the bestselling Horace and Morris But Mostly Dolores. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2-A touching and funny sequel to Horace and Morris but Mostly Dolores (Atheneum, 1999). When the three mice friends try out for chorus, Dolores, who often sings "notes no one had ever heard before" doesn't make the cut. She writes a pleading letter in rhyme to Moustro Provolone, asking him to reconsider his decision. He decides that the letter would make great lyrics to put to music, and, of course, Dolores must help sing it. He concludes that, "-everyone has a place in the chorus. Some singers just need a little more help." Walrod gets an astonishing amount of expression into the characters' faces, and their strong friendship as well as a satisfying ending make this tale a winner.
Shelley B. Sutherland, Niles Public Library District, IL
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this sympathetic follow-up to Horace and Morris but Mostly Dolores, Howe and Walrod depict a girl mouse's frustrated singing attempts and leaven it with humor. "Horace and Morris but mostly Dolores loved to sing." When they make music, Horace hits "the high notes." Morris provides "the low notes." Dolores, whose voice-bubble "La la la" is inscribed in a wavery line, sings "notes no one had ever heard before." No one minds, least of all Dolores, until she suggests the three audition for Moustro Provolone, a choral director with an artistic curl in his mustache and a collection of metronomes and record players. Aspiring performers will share Dolores's painful shock at the call-back sheet: "Horace. Morris. Chloris. Gus." Where other authors might show a child finding consolation in a different talent, Howe takes the difficult route. Dolores adores singing and rebuffs a pal's patronizing remark that "the audience is important too." In a kindly resolution that calls to mind Kevin Henkes's deft handling of grade-school matters, Dolores pens an imploring note to the Moustro, who raves at her rhymes: "This would make a great song!... Of course you must be in the chorus to sing it." Dolores gets lessons, and Walrod's endearingly odd acrylics picture the tin-eared chanteuse trying her best among her pearly-toothed peers. Howe and Walrod never treat success as a given and, as in the previous book, they suggest persistence serves a mouse well. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

PreS-Gr. 1. Horace, Morris, and Dolores, the happy mouse trio who made such a spirited debut in Horace, and Morris but Mostly Dolores (2001), are back again, and this time the complications to their friendship come in the form of music. The mice try out for the choir. Horace sings, "Squeek to Me Softly of Love," and Morris sings, "Somewhere under the Rainspout," and Dolores just sings loudly. Dolores' friends make the choir, and she doesn't, and she's sad and mad. Attempts at other activities don't work, and in her unhappiness, she writes a poem: "When I'm told I can't sing, the words really sting--and my heart hurts as much as my pride." The choirmaster reads the poem, sets it to music, and Dolores is now recognized as a songwriter. The ending, which sees Dolores also getting to sing in the chorus, seems a little optimistic. She's still not very good. But this mouse trio has such presence and verve that a few plot knots hardly matter. Walrod's delightful illustrations come laugh ready, and the pure colors she employs have pick-me-up appeal. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0689839391
• ISBN 13: 9780689839399
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Walrod Amy
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32