The Boy Who Said Wow
by Todd Boss; illus. by Rashin Kheiriyeh
Preschool, Primary    Beach Lane/Simon    40 pp.
4/24    9781534499713    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781534499720    $10.99

This fictional account relates the joyful moment when, in 2019, a nonverbal (“which means he usually doesn’t speak much” per an appended note) nine-year-old named Ronan Mattin declared “wow!” after hearing a Mozart composition at Boston’s Symphony Hall. With economical language, Boss emphasizes Ronan’s silence: “‘Shall we go to the beach?’ Ronan is quiet…‘Shall we go to the park?’ Ronan is quiet.” Suddenly, Grandfather bursts in, wearing classy attire, and invites Ronan to the symphony. Mother and Father seem concerned but agree, and Grandfather, Ronan, and Ronan’s little dog drive to the noisy city for the show. Kheiriyeh employs warm colors, with an emphasis on reds, in her inviting mixed-media illustrations. The musicians and audience members are humorously exaggerated, with dramatic hairstyles and old-fashioned clothes. Visually, the book soars when the music (identified in the author’s note as Mozart’s Masonic Funeral Music) begins. The illustrations show Ronan’s inner response; he and his dog appear floating through space, transported by the music’s many moods. Ronan’s “wow!” causes the audience and musicians to laugh and cheer, and the moment feels earned after these dynamic spreads. Boss’s use of sound effects (“Zimmity Zimmity Zum”) make this a pleasing read-aloud. The book ends on an emotionally satisfying note, with Ronan dreaming about his cosmic musical experience.

From the May/June 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.