Song in the City

by Daniel Bernstrom, Jenin Mohammed (Illustrator)

Overview

From Daniel Bernstrom, the acclaimed author of One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree, comes a charming and irresistibly fun picture book about a young blind girl and her grandmother who experience the vibrant everyday music of their busy city.

A young girl, filled with the sounds of her beloved city, shares a song with her grandmother that changes the two forever. After helping Grandma realize that the city makes music as beautiful as the sounds they hear in church on Sunday morning, the two sit down and take in all the sounds of the city…together.

Song in the City bridges the gap between generations of music and family, while centering love, understanding, and joy.

A Bank Street College of Education’s Children’s Book Committee’s Best Children’s Books of the Year pick!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063011120
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/06/2022
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	218,033
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Daniel Bernstrom is the author of the critically acclaimed One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree as well as Gator, Gator, Gator!, Big Papa and the Time Machine, Song in the City, and Good Night, Little Man. Dan earned an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Hamline University and currently works at the Learning Resource Center coordinator at Minnesota State College Southeast, where he tutors students in math, writing, and science. He lives in Red Wing, Minnesota, with his wife, Heather; daughter, LaVonne; and sons, Grace, and Haven.

Jenin Mohammed, winner of the 2020 Summer Spectacular Illustration Grand Prize, is the illustrator of the picture books Naming Ceremony, Song in the City, Super Mom, and All the Places We Call Home. She also draws the slice-of-life comic Knot Write Now. She lives in Florida. You can find her online at jeninmohammed.com.

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2022

Using a white cane, a blind child named Emmalene, who cues as Black, navigates her city home with her distracted grandmother, describing “a sing-along song,/ a busy city symphony” en route to church. Lively rhymes by Bernstrom (Big Papa and the Time Machine) emphasize the musicality of all Emmalene hears on the Sunday morning trip: as Emmalene and her grandmother head to the bus, Emmalene asks her grandma, “Did you hear that pretty ditty?” But Grandma Jean doesn’t appreciate the same sounds: “What you’re hearing is commotion./ Oh, my child, what a notion!/ That is traffic you are hearing, not a song.” When Grandma Jean prefers the church’s choir to the “backhoe drumming... city sirens humming... clap-clap-clapping of the pitter-patting rain,” Emmalene conveys frustration until, finally, Grandma Jean sits down in a pew and promises to listen: “The song and city filled Grandma Jean’s ears.” In blocks of color reminiscent of stained glass, illustrations by Mohammed (Super Mom) emphasize robust motion and reverberating sounds, centering the way Emmalene perceives the world—dogs barking, a bus engine rumbling, a marching band marching, and more—combining with onomatopoeic text to create an adventurous symphony for the senses. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Brenda Bowen, Book Group. Illustrator’s agent: Christy Ewers, CAT Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Song in the City is a delightful book about experiencing delight—and finding a way to share it with someone we love.  — Susan Marie Swanson, Award-winning Poet and Author

An eye-catching, toe-tapping celebration of the melodies in everyday sounds. — Kirkus Reviews

In blocks of color reminiscent of stained glass, illustrations by Mohammed (Super Mom) emphasize robust motion and reverberating sounds, centering the way Emmalene perceives the world - combining with onomatopoeic text to create an adventurous symphony for the senses. — Publishers Weekly

[P]urely delightful to read aloud. — School Library Journal (starred review)

A singsongy storytime delight with most welcome and empowering representation. — Booklist (starred review)

From the Publisher

★ 10/01/2022

PreS-Gr 2—Emmalene and Grandma Jean, who are both Black, are dressed in their Sunday best and take the bus to church. Joy written across her face, "Emmalene heard a sing-along song, a busy city symphony that followed her along!" While Emmalene, who is blind and uses a white, black-tipped cane, is entranced by the sounds of the city, Grandma Jean is too busy to listen. Smiling, Emmalene, a few skin tones darker than her grandmother, only slumps into despondency when they sit in the church pew, frustrated by Grandma Jean's unwillingness or inability to understand her. When Grandma agrees to try—and Emmalene covers Grandma Jean's eyes—a remarkable thing happens: "I hear your song." Mohammed cleverly renders sound with colorful abstract and representative shapes against a black background. Sound words are incorporated into the illustrations, with color, size, and case all contributing to the meaning. The story is filled with onomatopoeia and told in rhyme that doesn't stick to a strict scheme but is nevertheless purely delightful to read aloud. VERDICT This would make a wonderful story time with Elizabeth Bluemle's Tap Tap, Boom Boom or Colleen AF Venable's The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom; a first purchase.—Jenny Arch

School Library Journal

2022-08-17
A blind girl endeavors to share her musical perception of city sounds.

When Emmalene and Grandma Jean set out one Sunday, Emmalene rejoices at the “busy city symphony” that surrounds them as Bernstrom imbues his rhythmically rhyming text with exuberant onomatopoeia. There’s the “RUMBLE” of the bus, the “BIPPITY-BOP!” of a nearby marching band, and the “tippity-tapping” of the wind. But to impatient Grandma Jean, the sounds are mere “commotion”; for her, music is the church choir’s “loud and joyous” song. When Emmalene becomes frustrated that Grandma Jean doesn’t understand, Grandma Jean valiantly tries to hear from her perspective. But only after Emmalene covers Grandma Jean’s eyes does Grandma Jean finally hear her song; in kaleidoscopically colored text against black background, “acorns ticked. A backhoe WRECKED. A truck HARRUMPHED. And birds peck-pecked.” Emmalene and a tearful Grandma Jean embrace, and together they listen to the city’s “CLAPPING / FLAPPING / tippity-tapping” tune. Mohammed’s bright, bold illustrations vividly animate the bustling city, and Emmalene’s and Grandma Jean’s expressions are endearing; their love is palpable. Though Grandma Jean’s poignant epiphany echoes the trope of a disabled character imparting a lesson to a nondisabled character, the potentially off-key note is offset by the heartwarming portrayal of Emmalene and her grandma’s intergenerational bonding. Grandma Jean and Emmalene present Black with light- and dark-brown skin respectively. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An eye-catching, toe-tapping celebration of the melodies in everyday sounds. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews