"It is almost Friday night. Outside, the dark is getting darker," and here and there around the city ninety-two men and thirteen women are getting dressed to go to work. First they bathe and put on their underwear. Then they don special black-and-white apparel. Then when the one hundred and five people are completely ready, each takes a musical instrument and travels to midtown. There, at 8:30 tonight, they will work together: playing.

In these pages Karla Kuskin and Marc Simont combine their talents to give us a delightful and unusual inside view of one way an orchestra prepares.

Nominee, 1983 American Book Award

Notable Children's Books of 1983 (ALA)

1983 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)

Outstanding Children's Books of 1982 (NYT)

A Reading Rainbow Selection

1983 Teachers' Choices (NCTE)

Children's Books of 1982 (Library of Congress)