Fall is traditionally the season when new young musicians hold and play their chosen instruments in school (save arts education!) for the very first time. These five nonfiction picture books can inspire them and other child readers/listeners to appreciate the power of music to change lives. See also Horn Book reviewer Sarah Ellis’s recent picture-book biography of composer and pianist Glenn Gould, As Glenn as Can Be.

The Greatest Song of All: How Isaac Stern United the World to Save Carnegie Hall
by Megan Hoyt; illus. by Katie Hickey
Primary, Intermediate    Quill Tree/HarperCollins    40 pp.    g
7/22    978-0-06-304527-9    $18.99

This picture-book biography tells the story of virtuoso violinist Isaac Stern, with an emphasis on his commitment to preserving the crown jewel of American concert venues. Stern’s parents were Jewish immigrants who fled war-torn Ukraine in the 1920s. Isaac’s mother recognized her son’s talents at a young age and worked hard to get him the best teachers; by his teenage years he was “concertizing” all across the country. His love of New York City’s Carnegie Hall began with a recital in 1943, and he ­performed there more than fifty times over his career. (“‘This is my room,’ he said. And it was.”) In 1960, when the magnificent hall was slated for demolition, Stern shifted gears to become a community organizer, fundraiser, and political power broker, working to save the building and ultimately making it a National Historic Landmark. As Hoyt explains in clear, engaging text, this was no easy feat. Hickey’s finely detailed digital cartoons place Stern in the spotlight, capturing his ceaseless energy and stalwart efforts. His message — “When you believe in something, you can move mountains!” — is a good one for children to hear, and this story is a great way to introduce the famous violin player and his favorite performance venue to the next generation of music lovers. Back matter includes a timeline, notes on Carnegie Hall and Isaac Stern, source notes, and the text of the petition to save Carnegie Hall. LUANN TOTH

Building an Orchestra of Hope: How Favio Chávez Taught Children to Make Music from Trash
by Carmen Oliver; illus. by Luisa Uribe
Primary    Eerdmans    48 pp.    g
10/22    978-0-8028-5467-4    $18.99
e-book ed.  978-1-4674-6590-8    $18.99

Cateura, Paraguay: a town built on a landfill. Families survive by working as gancheros digging through mountains of trash in hopes of finding recyclable cardboard, plastic, and metal to resell. From this town, with the help in 2006 of Favio Chávez, an environmental engineer who was also a musician, comes a children’s orchestra using instruments made from the trash their homes are built upon: “oven trays, old drain pipes, door keys, metal forks and spoons, X-ray films, bottle caps, glue canisters, plastic buttons, paint cans.” While Oliver’s text centers Chávez (an outsider who is set up as a bit of a savior in the narrative), the artwork effectively positions the children of Cateura as the emotional focus of the story. Uribe’s digital art is warm and inviting; ever-present sunshine seems to flood the outdoor setting, highlighting the musicians and their remarkable instruments. “‘The world sends us garbage,’ Favio says. ‘We send back music.’” An inspiring picture book that demonstrates how environmentalism and the arts can unite to bring joy to an entire community. Back matter includes further details about Chávez and the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura as well as a bibliography that helpfully includes links to videos where readers can see and hear the orchestra perform. ERIC CARPENTER

Before Music: Where Instruments Come From
by Annette Bay Pimentel; illus. by Madison Safer
Primary, Intermediate    Amulet/Abrams    88 pp.    g
5/22    978-1-4197-4555-3    $24.99
e-book ed.  978-1-6470-0696-9    $18.65

One person collects clay from the earth and shapes it into an ocarina; another finds metal ore deep in the ground and fashions it into a bell. In this richly illustrated and engaging exploration of the origins of musical instruments, each section focuses on a specific material, such as rocks, clay, gourds, silk, strings, or even human voices. Pimentel discusses how the material produces sound (i.e., the science of sound), lists instruments made from the material, and describes how they’re played and used in different cultures and ceremonies. Safer’s inviting watercolor, gouache, and colored-pencil illustrations reflect the text’s emphasis on the connection between music and the human spirit. Occasional sidebars profile people who have changed the musical world through activism, creativity, and scientific discovery. The back matter includes selected sources, an explanatory note on organology and music classification systems, and ideas for making instruments at home. GRACE MCKINNEY

Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion
by Shannon Stocker; illus. by Devon Holzwarth
Primary, Intermediate    Dial    40 pp.    g
4/22    978-0-593-10969-4    $17.99
e-book ed.  978-0-593-10970-0    $10.99

Evelyn Glennie grew up 1960s Scotland surrounded by music: her mother played the organ and her father played the accordion. By the age of eight, Evelyn could play songs by ear on the piano. She began to experience degenerative hearing loss when she was ten. She was determined to continue playing music, however; she knew that even though she couldn’t hear, she could still feel its rhythm and vibrations. After high school, she auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music in London, “but they turned her down. No one believed that a deaf musician could have a career in music.” Glennie fought the decision and eventually was admitted — and because of her, “every music school in Great Britain changed its rules…No one should be turned away because of a disability.” Glennie’s career has taken her around the world; she has won numerous awards (including two Grammys) and was knighted in 1993. Stocker’s engaging text is ably supported by Holzwarth’s vibrant illustrations, which effectively use color and pattern and movement to represent sound. An author’s note provides more information about this remarkable musician’s work, and a list of references is appended. MAIJA MEADOWS HASEGAWA

Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Modern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual
by Carole Boston Weatherford; illus. by Frank Morrison
Primary, Intermediate    Crown    32 pp.    g
9/22    978-0-593-30634-5    $18.99
Library ed.  978-0-593-30635-2    $21.99
e-book ed.  978-0-593-30636-9    $10.99

This is a moving walk through African American history, via Weatherford’s expansion of the lyrics of a well-known Negro spiritual and Morrison’s powerful, imagistic art. In his distinctive illustrations, Morrison employs innovative perspectives and unusual visual compositions to encourage readers to make connections between historical events, while Weatherford’s poetry, per the author’s note, “integrat[es] historical and contemporary events that summoned courage and faith.” The book’s first, wordless double-page spread looks down on the bare back of an enslaved man emerging from the bowels of a slave ship, facing a white enslaver who holds a whip. From there, the book represents significant historical and contemporary Black heroes such as Nat Turner, Ruby Bridges, Florence Joyner, and Colin Kaepernick; it also portrays important eras such as the Harlem Renaissance, the civil rights movement, the Great Migration, and the Black Lives Matter movement. A richly illustrated, informative picture book that will leave readers humming and spark a desire to learn more. MICHELLE H. MARTIN

From the October 2022 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.