The Composer Is Dead

by Lemony Snicket, Carson Ellis (Illustrator), Nathaniel Stookey (Music Score by)

Overview

There's dreadful news from the symphony hall—the composer is dead!

If you have ever heard an orchestra play, then you know that musicians are most certainly guilty of something. Where exactly were the violins on the night in question? Did anyone see the harp? Is the trumpet protesting a bit too boisterously?

In this perplexing murder mystery, everyone seems to have a motive, everyone has an alibi, and nearly everyone is a musical instrument. But the composer is still dead.

Perhaps you can solve the crime yourself. Join the Inspector as he interrogates all the unusual suspects. Then listen to the accompanying audio recording featuring Lemony Snicket and the music of Nathaniel Stookey performed by the San Francisco Symphony. Hear for yourself exactly what took place on that fateful, well-orchestrated evening.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061236273
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/03/2009
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	135,296
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD710L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 10 Years

About the Author

Lemony Snicket is often despondent, mostly about his published research, which includes A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Composer Is Dead.

Colin Meloy once wrote Ray Bradbury a letter, informing him that he "considered himself an author too." He was ten. Since then, Colin has gone on to be the singer and songwriter for the band the Decemberists, where he channels all of his weird ideas into weird songs. With the Wildwood Chronicles, he is now channeling those ideas into novels.

As a kid, Carson Ellis loved exploring the woods, drawing, and nursing wounded animals back to health. As an adult, little has changed—except she is now the acclaimed illustrator of several books for children, including Lemony Snicket's The Composer Is Dead, Dillweed's Revenge by Florence Parry Heide, and The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.

Colin and Carson live with their sons, Hank and Milo, in Oregon.

Hometown:

Snicket is something of a nomad. Handler lives in San Francisco, California.

Date of Birth:

February 28, 1970

Place of Birth:

Handler was born in San Francisco in 1970, and says Snicket's family has roots in a land that's now underwater.

Education:

Handler is a 1992 graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

Website:

http://www.lemonysnicket.com

Editorial Reviews

A stint narrating live performances of Peter and the Wolf led Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) to collaborate with Stookey on this introduction to the instruments of the orchestra (see "Lemony Snicket Redux," Oct. 27). In true Snicket fashion, the device is a picture book cum police procedural, with a murder investigation functioning as plot. The tone is set by the opening spread, which describes the composer, face down at his desk, "not humming.... not moving, or even breathing." The single line of text on the next page reads: "This is called decomposing." (The illustration shows a large, menacing fly.) The witty wordplay proceeds with the Inspector, a rosy-cheeked Hercule Poirot type in a bowler and pinstripe suit, interrogating each section, beginning with the First Violins, "who have the trickier parts to play," followed by the Second Violins, "who are more fun at parties." Ellis (known for her art for the band The Decemberists as well as for illustrating the Mysterious Benedict Society books) brightens the heavily black stage scenes with coral, gold and sepia accents against expansive white backgrounds. Silhouettes of each instrument add a period feel. The accompanying CD features Snicket narrating and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra performing Stookey's original score. A national tour begins March 7 in New York City. Ages 5-up. (Mar.)

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Publishers Weekly

The Composer is dead and his death was very suspicious. The Inspector (looking just a bit like dapper Hercule Poirot) is called in to find the murderer...or murderers. He begins by questioning all of the usual suspects—the strings, the brass, the woodwinds, and the percussion instruments. The violins are interrogated first, but they have an alibi. They were playing graceful melodies so the ladies and gentlemen could waltz around and around all night long. The cellos and basses were providing accompaniment and couldn't possibly be guilty. In fact, all of the instruments have very good alibis. "I'm utterly baffled," says the Inspector. "I've questioned all of the instruments in the orchestra, and none of them seems to be the murderer." But the fact remains—the Composer is dead. Could it be the work of one man? Perhaps the one with the little stick? Did he work alone or did he have an accomplice? And in the musical world, is a little occasional murder necessary if you want to hear the works of the world's greatest composers? This is a delightfully different introduction to the instruments of the orchestra. Includes a CD featuring the author's narration and the music of the composer (presumably alive and well) performed by the San Francisco Symphony. Recommended. Reviewer: Anita Barnes Lowen

Children's Literature - Anita Barnes Lowen

K-Gr 5

Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" has been the gold standard for introducing children to instruments since 1946. The concept has been embraced (some may say enhanced) by none other than Lemony Snicket, whose picture-book overview offers the additional layer of a murder mystery. The CD presentation features music by Nathaniel Stookey, performed by the San Francisco Symphony. The story is well paced, employing wordplay, humor, and mild suspense to build a slow crescendo that originates with the delicate strings and climaxes with percussion. The bombastic Inspector, read by Snicket on the CD, sports pinstripes, a bowler hat, and a handlebar mustache in the book. As he interrogates each section of the orchestra, the instruments describe their whereabouts on the night of the crime in characteristic voices, telling something about their actual roles while offering imagery for the illustrator. Thus, "'We were performing a waltz,' said the Violins. 'We played graceful melodies so the ladies and gentlemen could spin around and around and around until they felt dizzy and somewhat nauseous.'" Ellis's watercolors combine caricatures of the action with silhouettes of the instruments. Evidence leads to the conductor, since "wherever there's a conductor, you're sure to find a dead composer!" Musings on justice versus art point to certain acquittal. Due to the length of the musical portions, it is unlikely that children will listen and read simultaneously. It is quite likely, however, that both formats will provide entertainment and enlightenment, in whatever order they are encountered.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library

School Library Journal

In this characteristically unsettling invitation to Meet the Orchestra, the Composer leads off-dead or, as the author puts it, "decomposing" at his desk. Enter the Inspector-bearing a certain resemblance to the aforementioned scrivener (or at least his alter ego) in Ellis's note-strewn, atmospherically wan watercolors-to grill each section of instruments and to pick apart their alibis. When the Inspector at last accuses the Conductor of doing the dirty deed, all of the former suspects step up to declare collective guilt: "All of us have butchered a composer at one time or another. But we also keep composers alive." On the accompanying CD the melodramatic narrative is set to percussive music, which is reprised without the author's reading on a second set of tracks. Conceived as an alternative to "Peter and the Wolf" but more a send-up than an informational visit to the pit, the episode isn't likely to make much of a lasting impression on young audiences. (Picture book. 8-10, adult)

Kirkus Reviews