HELLO, MISTER BLUE

A story to help us see those whom we often don’t.

When a Black girl visits her papa, they walk to a restaurant, enjoy eating breakfast together, then stroll outside and play their violins under blossoming trees. The pair spend lots of time outdoors, and so does Mr. Blue, who “lives outside,” sometimes drumming on upside-down orange buckets, sometimes playing a harmonica, but always spreading audible art throughout the neighborhood. While walking home, the little girl pelts Papa with questions about Mr. Blue: “Is he safe?” Scared? Lonely? Cold? Wet? Hungry? Papa and Mr. Blue go “all the way back”—they shared good times and bad and served in a war together, but the child’s questions shift Papa’s thinking about his unhoused friend. In a driving rainstorm, the girl insists on finding Mr. Blue to invite him inside. Joy abounds in the jam session that unfolds. Peoples’ profoundly moving and highly textured oil paintings encourage readers to slow down and absorb the details: hairstyles, facial expressions, the changing moods of the scenes. The full-color pages of the contemporary story contrast sharply with the historical black-and-white flashbacks to when Papa and Mr. Blue were younger, but through it all, it’s clear that music has brought light into Mr. Blue’s difficult existence. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A visually stunning narrative that poses hard questions with no easy answers and highlights hope despite hardship.