TALLULAH PLAYS THE TUBA

Precocious, petite Tallulah tries everything to be big enough to play the tuba.

Tallulah dreams of playing the big brass instrument and decides to join her school’s band. Her ability to read music, powerful lungs, and strong muscles indicate that she’d be a perfect match for the melodic machinery. Her barrier: Tallulah is tiny, but the tuba is not. Mr. Greenwood, the band leader, tries to steer the determined protagonist toward a piccolo, but the “thweep thweep” sound is much too small. Tallulah tries everything to increase her size; she eats extra helpings of dinner and hangs from the monkey bars, but the only growth she gets is an increase in blisters and bellyaches. When increasing her own height fails, she employs objects to help her reach the tuba’s just-beyond-reach mouthpiece. Unfortunately, Mr. Greenwood still cannot let Tallulah play her favorite instrument. The story ends well enough, with Tallulah digging a large hole in the ground, which finally brings the mouthpiece to her eye level. Nichol’s chipper illustrations, highlighted with golden yellows and soft blues, match the energy and motion of the story. The book ends happily, though absurdly, with Mr. Greenwood agreeing to let the band play outdoors with the ambitious tunesmith contributing a big “OOOM-pah!” Children transitioning from easy readers may find this a happy match. Tallulah has brown skin and wavy, brown hair, and Mr. Greenwood presents black.

Tuneful.