A NEIGHBORHOOD WALK, A MUSICAL JOURNEY

Penelope and her mother live in the city, where there are sounds on every corner, but what will become of Penelope now that she’s heard a new, almost magical sound?

Penelope, a young girl with light-brown skin and hair in a single Afro puff, joins her mother on a walk to the farmers market. Along the way, they stop to enjoy a saxophonist on the street corner, a drummer in the subway, a guitarist in the park, and a cellist playing from inside a building. When they arrive at the farmers market, Penelope becomes fascinated by pleasant music riding the air that she can’t identify. She follows the sounds until she finds a violinist; enraptured, she declares, “I’m going to make that music too.” Penelope’s curiosity about music and the world around her rings true. The illustrations offer a pleasant, cartoonlike feel and plenty of details to bring character to this bustling, diverse city. Hilariously, three rats are drawn on the subway tracks, giving young readers an “I spy” opportunity and adults a chuckle. This will be an excellent book for picture walks with very young children, who will be drawn to the bright colors and busy pages. The text, alas, falters a bit, incorporating clunky onomatopoeia that doesn’t always provide a good imitation of the instruments they describe—does a bow drawn across a cello’s strings really sound like “pluck-pluck-pluck”?

A delightful ode to the curiosity of childhood.