VIOLET’S MUSIC

Children marching to the beat of different drummers may take comfort from this tale of a born musician who grows up playing alone, but never doubts that she will find kindred spirits one day. Violet is making music before she even leaves the maternity ward, but as she goes from rattle banging to pretend guitar, she can’t find anyone who will join in. Huliska-Beith chronicles her search, and ever-appreciative family audience, in lively, undulant multimedia collages that nicely capture both the rhythms of Violet’s music and the joy she takes in creating them. That joy is intensified when, playing in the park one day, she hears drums, a sax, and a voice chiming in; suddenly she’s in a band, with mates who, likewise, never gave up their search for others like them. That message adds an extra level of meaning generally missing from similar tales of young music-makers. (Picture book. 7-9)