Great fun, then, that's also an inspired approach to concert-going.
Well may you blink—but this is gloriously for real: on the cover is a woman struggling into a long black dress with an instrument case propped alongside.
And in the tenor of a suspense tale, ""one hundred and five people"" variously bathe and shower, shave and towel, don ""undershorts or briefs,"" ""petticoats or slips, and brassieres""—until, item-by-item, step-by-step, the unidentified one-hundred-and-five ""walk out of one hundred and five doors, into one hundred and five streets, and. . . take cabs, cars, subways, or buses to the middle of the city."" One man, who ""has wavy black hair streaked with white,"" has been dressing himself differently; and this obviously distinguished personage strides into a waiting limousine. Then, with the same meticulous detailing, the one hundred and four others take their seats (for the double bass players, stools); ""the man with the black wavy hair lit with white enters,"" ""steps one step up onto a box called a podium,"" and, at the wave of his baton, ""the hall. . . fills with music."" What is quite wonderful about this is that it's neither jokey nor artsy: the very notion of 105 diverse, scattered people dressing to assemble and play a symphony is attuned to children's curiosity and to the nature of music performance.
Great fun, then, that's also an inspired approach to concert-going.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1982
ISBN: 978-0-06-443124-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2013
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A reassuring riff on embracing imperfections.
A young rabbit frets about her upcoming violin performance in Icelandic singer-songwriter Laufey’s literary debut.
Mei Mei’s dream—“to share her music with the world”—is about to come true. She’s having her very first recital, complete with an orchestra, at the H’Opera House. But the day before the concert, Mei Mei is racked with anxiety. What if she plays a bum note in front of everyone? Sure enough, the worst happens mid-performance: She hits a clinker. But by remembering her mom’s reassuring sentiments from the night before (“Feel the wind…find the notes to make it right”), Mei Mei summons the strength to soldier on, and “wrong notes become right. Dissonance becomes beautiful.” At times, it all feels more like a resilience parable than a story, and the writing can be precious (“The flutter of butterflies wakes Mei Mei from her slumber”). Still, the message is solid, bolstered by O’Hara’s pencil and watercolor illustrations, which are plush-toy soft—fitting, as even prior to this book’s publication, a stuffed Mei Mei has been for sale at Grammy winner Laufey’s website. The tale features an all-animal, all-adorable cast, and endearingly, the art betrays no hint of modern times. A standout image presents Mei Mei onstage, temporarily incapacitated by her mistake and imagining her fellow musicians and their instruments with the color-blasted menace of an expressionist painting.
A reassuring riff on embracing imperfections. (author’s note, glossary) (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 21, 2026
ISBN: 9798217051748
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
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