In the 1930s, young Oscar Peterson plays the trumpet in his neighborhood of St. Henri in Montreal, where the city’s Black working class lives. He’s a magician with his trumpet as he blows notes on his favorite instrument. However, he becomes very sick with tuberculosis, and his lungs weaken. He refuses to talk while he is in the hospital. His neighbor Millie writes to him and encourages him to talk. When he returns home from the hospital, he plays on the piano the music that he hears in everything. His father hires a piano teacher, and Oscar practices and practices and eventually becomes an international jazz piano sensation. The lively digital illustrations enhance the engaging story. An author’s note provides information about Oscar’s neighborhood in Montreal and a short biography of the legendary jazz pianist. mjw |
| Title: Oscar Lives Next Door: A Story Inspired By Oscar Peterson’s Childhood Author: Bonnie Farmer Illustrator: Marie Lafrance Publisher: Owlkids Books, Inc. Toronto, Ontario Copyright: 2023 Original Language: English ISBN: 978-1771475969 Hardcover pages: 32 Age range: 4-8 Genre: Picture book, Biography Book setting: Montreal, Quebec. Canada Author’s ethnicity: Canadian Author’s residence: Montreal, Quebec Illustrator’s ethnicity: Canadian Illustrator’s residence: Montreal, Quebec Subjects: Biographical fiction, Canada, Jazz, Music, Performing arts, Piano, Selective mutism, Trumpet, Tuberculosis |
Oscar Lives Next Door: A Story Inspired By Oscar Peterson’s Childhood
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As Sara walks to school in her island town, she sees a lot of birds trapped in a little house with a bright red roof. She is awed by the colored parakeets and she wants the birds to be free. The next day on her walk to school, she discovers that the door to the birdhouse is unlocked, and she opens it wide so the parakeets can take off. Sara is punished when her parents find out what she did. She worries that the freed birds may not know how to feed themselves. She goes to sleep that night and dreams that the birds will find their way. “All will be well, so long as the world has wings to dream.” The realistic illustrations in this story about love for nature and dreams for a better world were rendered in digital media. A publisher’s note gives information about Mauritius and the birds that live there. mjw
The French six-year-old narrator in this gorgeous picture book loves spending time in his Spanish grandfather’s incredible garden. The grandfather, Luis, left Spain because of the terrible war. He didn’t have a chance to be a kid, and he never learned to read and write. Together they watch birds. Luis speaks BIRD language. They also draw what they see in the magnificent garden. Luis is a great cook, too, making his house always smell good. Luis speaks in a vibrant and unique language, hence the title of the book, At the Drop of a Cat, and another phrase like “the apple of his pie.” At the end of the story, Luis gives his grandchild a guitar. Even though Luis cannot read or write, he imparts wonderful knowledge about nature and life to his grandchild. Dreamy, colorful, and rich, plant-filled pictures in watercolor and collage depict their natural world effectively
This bilingual Spanish-English edition, the first illustrated selection of 70 questions from Pablo Neruda’s original poem (320 questions), The Book of Questions, is a glorious introduction to Neruda’s works for young children. “Why don’t they teach helicopters how to draw honey from the sun? How did the abandoned bicycle find its freedom? Does the earth chirp like a cricket in the symphony of the skies?” These are a few of the unanswerable imaginative questions posed in the text. The book is large and includes fold-out pages. Blues, reds, and yellows against black or white backgrounds created by pencil and ink have a folk art feel. This is a gorgeous book. mjw
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