The Song for Everyone

May 22, 2020

K-Gr 2-Sometimes, one little change can make a world of difference. A small town is filled with people who are disconnected, living in loneliness, discomfort, and sadness. One day, however, from a window so high it is nearly unnoticeable, a tune emerges. This melody wraps each member of the town in its warm embrace, giving everyone a lightness they had not experienced in recent memory. For days, this music permeates the town, enhancing the life of everyone in it. When the window goes silent, the townspeople must come up with a way to bring the music back and the joy that came with it. This book tells an uplifting story through the eyes of recognizable characters in a small town. A blend of poetic text and warm colors carry the story from one page to the next, guided by the melody that is represented by a trail of flowers and dots. The muted color palette and childlike drawings imbue each page with the story's innocence, much like the illustrative style of Nikko Draws a Feeling. Each line of text ranges in length from a few words to a few sentences, varying the pace of the story throughout. Though not fully accessible for emerging readers to experience on their own, the text is designed to be enjoyed aloud. VERDICT Young elementary readers will love this gentle story about a town connected by song.-Mary Lanni, formerly at Denver P.L.

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 15, 2020
A boy and a wren join forces to get everyone dancing in the street. From the tiny top-story window of a modest home in a small neighborhood comes a "delicate tune," originating from an unknown source. Those who hear the music experience a metamorphosis: A sad boy with shoulders hunched forgets his loneliness; the ache in an elderly woman's bones disappears; and the townspeople are generally moved toward sharing "food and stories and kindnesses." When the music stops and everyone slips into a depression, the townsfolk decide to hoist the boy though the window, where he finds a wren too tired to sing. After some TLC, the boy and the wren sing together from the window, and everyone feels joy once again. The music, depicted as a string of dainty flowers, swoops and swirls through the air; they envelop the elderly woman, morph into first an umbrella and then a bicycle wheel, and even lift a book lover to a high shelf. Though music lovers may relate to a melody's ability to move one's soul and lift the spirits, there is an underlying sentimentality in the notion that bird song can solve a community's woes, which won't be for everyone. Most of the townspeople have pale skin, including the boy, but a few have brown skin. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.8-by-20.4-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.) This well-meaning but simplistic tale sounds an off note. (Picture book. 3-7)

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October 1, 2020
Preschool-G In a beautiful old town, music flows from an upper-story window and reaches a lonely boy who suddenly feels lighthearted. It surrounds a weary old lady, rejuvenating her. Searching out the lonely and lost, the needy and sad, it fills people with joy and inspires them to comfort others. But one day, the music stops. Misery reigns. Standing on his neighbors' shoulders, the boy climbs through the high window and finds a tiny, ailing songbird who can't make a sound. The people wait silently below while he nurses her back to health. Two days later, the wren and the boy sing at the window together while, in the street, the townsfolk rejoice. The concisely worded text tells the story in a clear, matter-of-fact way, letting the art express the music's enchantment. A floating, swirling ribbon of separate elements (bits of flowers, fronds, etc.) represents the beauty, energy, and intricacy of the music effectively. A collage of watercolor, pencil, ink, and pencil-crayon elements, the illustrations are delicate and precise. A heartening picture book that reads aloud well.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)