LITTLE BOY WITH A BIG HORN

Freshly illustrated with retro art from Yaccarino, this 1950 tale still stands up despite its references to a once-popular song that modern children probably won’t recognize. Little Ollie diligently practices his tuba, but all he can play is “Asleep in the Deep.” Though dogs and other animals gather round to listen attentively, his Mom and the neighbors soon rise up in protest and drive him from home, from the yard and even from a farmer’s field. Fetching up at last on the seashore, he rows out into a fog—to discover that an important bell buoy has disappeared, and only he and his instrument can guide an incoming passenger liner safely into harbor. The grateful town sends him to a (distant) music school. Since Ollie’s short pants and other details in the pictures’ urban and rural settings could pass for contemporary with the text, the blend of old and new is seamless. (Picture book. 6-8)