Franny and the Music Girl

Franny embraces life. She loves to move fast, play with her friends and explore her neighbourhood looking for adventure. Like other children her age, she is happy, curious and vibrant. She also uses a wheelchair.

Franny embraces life. She loves to move fast, play with her friends and explore her neighbourhood looking for adventure. Like other children her age, she is happy, curious and vibrant. She also uses a wheelchair.About the AuthorEmily Hearn has worked at the National Film Board, written programs on music, dance, and poetry for CBC Radio and the Polka Dot Door for TVO, and she wrote a natural history comic strip, “Mighty Mites” with artist Mark Thurman for OWL magazine. She has written several children’s books, including Franny and the Music Girl and Hattie Pearl Click Click, both published by Second Story Press. More recently, Emily has released two books of poetry: Grass of Green Moment and They look Like This To Me. She lives with her husband, Douglas Valleau, in downtown Toronto where they make music, write, walk, and entertain their grandchildren.About the IllustratorMark graduated from the Central Technical School Art Program in 1966, and has been a working artist since that time. He has worked as an illustrator, a designer and has shown as a gallery artist. He has taught life drawing anatomy and illustration/design at the Toronto School of Art, anatomy/figure drawing at OCAD, and picture-book illustration and figure drawing at Central Technical School. Currently, he teaches anatomy/figure drawing in the Classical Animation department at Sheridan College.He is best known as a children’s author illustrator. He has written and illustrated 16 books and designed and illustrated more than 25 books for other authors. He was co- creator and illustrator of the “Mighty Mites”, a scientific comic, in Owl Magazine. From 1976 to 1991, he co-authored (with Emily Hearn) and illustrated 153 episodes. He has appeared on TVO Kids, Romper Room, Mr. Dress-up, Polka Dot Door and Caribou Club.As an author/illustrator he has toured Canada extensively, sharing his stories and ideas with children and teachers in hundreds of schools. “Constant touring means being on the road, I’m a travelling salesman — only I’m selling information, ideas and inspiration.My ReviewI thought this was a wonderful book teaching kids that even with living life in a wheelchair you can pursue all of your dreams and accomplish anything you put your mind too. Franny is a lovely girl who lives a lovely life. Franny faces the same challenges as children that are not in a wheelchair and she handles them wonderfully. I would recommend reading this book to anyone with young children it is a great way to show that even with physical challenges life can be grand.

Library of Clean Reads

My son loves music so he was attracted to this book about a young girl named Franny who ends up making friends with an older girl, Maia, who is a whiz on the clarinet. Franny is in a wheelchair and she loves to dance and dream when she listens to music, but she becomes upset one day when someone mysteriously pushes all the buttons on the elevator in the apartment where she lives and makes her late for camp day after day for a whole week.

The story is simple but it touches on anger, dealing with situations one cannot change, and love of music. Franny is a strong-willed child who feels empathy and comes to the aid of someone in need. She is rewarded by a new friendship and the new skill of learning how to play an instrument.  My son noticed that even if the children were in wheelchairs they still danced and had fun.

This was another good story that exposed my child to children in wheelchairs. The story does not say why Franny was in a wheelchair, and my son didn't ask, probably because it didn't matter to him, only that Franny did what other kids do in the summer--go to camp, play with their friends and make new friends.