Tallulah Plays the Tuba

August 1, 2019
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. (Picture book. 4-7)

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January 24, 2020

PreS-Gr 2-More than anything, Tallulah wants to play the tuba in the school band. Though she can read music, has powerful lungs, and is equipped with strong muscles (enough to balance an oversized cat around her neck), Tallulah is tiny, while the tuba is clearly not. This does not stop her, however, from making every effort necessary to resolve the issue at hand: eating an added serving of everything, extending her limbs by hanging from the monkey bars an extra-long time, even stacking and climbing a mountain of music books in her teacher's room. Tallulah does not give up, and ultimately fixes an otherwise enormous, oversized "problem" by digging a big hole in which to prop the instrument so that the mouthpiece fits her size perfectly. Tallulah's sound reasoning is not that she is too "tiny," but that the tuba is too "big." Children should cherish Stone's noteworthy message that most seemingly insurmountable challenges can be fixed with enough ingenuity and willpower. Many will appreciate that both Tallulah and the bandleader are both dark-skinned, while others in school are white. The illustrations are also perky and quirky, as represented by the main character's diminutive size as she peers up at the music teacher and mounts a human pyramid to face the tuba head-on. This book will be appreciated by a wide and eclectic audience, not just those musically inclined. Children small in size will find Tallulah a fitting role model, and others will be inspired by her perseverance to succeed. The alliterative title also has an appealing ring to it.VERDICT A resonant picture book treat with a worthy heroine that is recommended for wide purchase.-Etta Anton, Yeshiva of Central Queens, NY

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2019
Preschool-G The only goal Tallulah has for the school year is to play the tuba. She daydreams about it constantly and finds herself lost in the sound. But there's one problem: Tallulah is too tiny to play the tuba. Although she tries many ways to get bigger, her band teacher is adamant that she is just too small. Stone and Nichols' charming picture book emphasizes tenacity for children who know their goals but are repeatedly told they are too much or not enough to achieve them. When Tallulah is told she is too tiny to play, she invents a plethora of ways to make herself taller in order to gain approval, but ultimately, she comes to the powerful conclusion that it's not her size that needs to change but the accommodations around her. Nichols' colorful illustrations have a cartoonish look, especially when she depicts the comical contrast between tiny Tallulah and the seemingly ever-larger tuba. With a lesson for both kids and adults about surmounting obstacles, this appealing story is great for sharing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)