By Susan Hood

Art by Sally Wern Comport

I love a good human-interest story. I recently bawled watching an Ellen clip of a teenager with autism who landed his dream job as a Starbucks barista. The story of 11-year-old Marley Dias, who made--and shattered--a goal of collecting 1,000 books with black girl protagonists, has been showing up in many a feed. And then there's the story of the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, Paraguay, which first caught my attention in a 60 Minutes segment.

Many things about the story resonated with me: the spirit of innovation, the dedication of the community to find a way to inspire their children, the hope and pride that the children found in the practice of playing music. We know how profound music education can be to a child's life--thank you, Save the Music!--and all of those benefits, and then some, were captured in Michael Gavshon and Bob Simon's beautiful segment.

You can find out how the story became a book here.  The finished product is truly stunning--vibrant, textured, sumptuous. You'll marvel at all the little details Sally worked into each piece of art. Susan wrote an informative author's note and listed a number of resources for you to enjoy with your kids and/or students.

Laurent Linn oversaw the design of this 10 x 10, 40-page masterpiece.

For more information and to buy the book, click here.

★ "A virtuoso piece of nonfiction, gloriously told and illustrated." - School Library Journal (starred review)

★ "An uplifting, constructive story." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Junior Library Guild Selections

A Best Book of 2016 by the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature

A 2016 New York Public Library’s 100 Best Books for Kids

NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children

Eureka Excellence in Nonfiction Gold Award

Selected for the 2017 – 2018 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List