Mon voisin Oscar
Une histoire inspirée de l'enfance d'Oscar Peterson
- Publisher
- Scholastic Canada Ltd
- Initial publish date
- Oct 2015
- Category
- Music, General
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781443149112
- Publish Date
- Oct 2015
- List Price
- $11.99
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Where to buy it
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 5 to 10
- Grade: k to 5
- Reading age: 5 to 10
Description
See below for English description.
Né à Montréal, Oscar Peterson est devenu un pianiste de jazz très renommé. Mais dans les années 30, il était juste un jeune garçon qui adorait jouer de la trompette et faire de la musique avec ses frères et sœurs.
Malheureusement, avant même d'avoir dix ans, Oscar est atteint de tuberculose. Il s'en remet, mais ses poumons affaiblis ne lui permettent plus de souffler dans sa trompette. Il est alors obligé de renoncer à l'instrument qu'il adore et opte pour le piano afin d'assouvir sa passion pour la musique.
L'histoire se déroule à St-Henri pendant les années 30. Ce quartier, maintenant connu au nom de la Petite-Bourgogne, était composé en majorité de la classe ouvrière Noire. Les illustrations détaillées de Marie Lafrance mettent en relief la culture de la communauté montréalaise.
Long before Oscar Peterson became a successful jazz pianist, he was a boy who loved to play the trumpet. When a bout of tuberculosis weakened his lungs, Oscar could no longer play his beloved instrument. He took up piano and the rest is history.
Mon voisin Oscar is a fictional story inspired by these facts. The book imagines a next door neighbour for Oscar named Émilie, who gets into mischief with him, but also appreciates his talents. Émilie writes to Oscar during his long stay in the hospital, and she encourages his earliest notes on the piano.
Set in Oscar's true childhood neighbourhood of St-Henri — now known as Little Burgundy — the book provides a wonderful sense of this 1930s neighbourhood where most of Montreal's Black working class population lived. Detailed illustrations make the community's culture and music almost tangible.
Original title: Oscar Lives Next Door: A Story Inspired by Oscar Peterson's Childhood
About the authors
Bonnie Farmer is an elementary school teacher, a children’s author, and a playwright living in Montreal, Quebec. Bonnie spent a part of her early childhood in Little Burgundy, the same neighborhood where Oscar Peterson grew up. She remembers its sights and sounds vividly and gets pangs of nostalgia each time she revisits familiar streets. Bonnie’s two most recent plays, Gollywog and Big Feelin’ have been work shopped at Black Theatre Workshop and Playwright’s Workshop of Montreal, respectively.
Marie Lafrance est née à Québec. Après des études en graphisme et un long séjour aux États-Unis, elle décide de se consacrer à l'illustration. Ses œuvres lui ont valu des nominations au prix du Gouverneur général et elle a remporté le Prix Ruth et Sylvia Schwartz de littérature jeunesse pour le livre Une poule pour Izzy Pippik qu'elle a illustré. Marie vit à Montréal.
MARIE LAFRANCE has spent her whole life drawing pictures, at first to keep from biting her nails, then for magazines, newspapers, posters, billboards and board games. Now she illustrates picture books, including The Lady with the Books, Oscar Lives Next Door, and Bunny the Brave War Horse. Her book A Hen for Izzy Pippik won the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award. Marie lives in Montreal, Quebec.
Awards
- Short-listed, Prix Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon (illustrations)
