A quick and interesting musical read, full of history and mystery.
A singing goldfinch becomes a musical muse for a young piano prodigy.
Mirabelle, a young female goldfinch who loves music, closely watches the home of Mr. Starek, a gifted piano teacher. One day, a tween boy named Michael Jin arrives, clearly against his wishes. The boy refuses to play for the esteemed teacher, who is supposed to help Michael prepare for the prestigious Chopin Festival in Hartford. Broach unfurls a shy dance between boy and bird, as Mirabelle’s curiosity helps Michael, who presents as East Asian American, reveal his precocious talent. When Michael plays Chopin’s Minute Waltz, Mirabelle, perched in a tree outside the window, begins to sing along, inspiring both to perform beyond their expectations. This creates a musical friendship that leads them to the mystery of Chopin’s lost piano. Readers learn about the historical friendship among three geniuses: Frédéric Chopin; his muse, the writer George Sand; and painter Eugene Delacroix. A dilapidated house stuffed with treasures holds a rare piano that brings forth the duo’s best performances, but will the bank take the house and all its contents away? Glimpses of bird life provide a lighthearted balance to the fine details of musicality and piano virtuosity. This story illustrates an appreciation for excellence and the passion to create music just for the joy of it. Final art not seen.
A quick and interesting musical read, full of history and mystery. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-31135-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
SEEN & HEARD
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