• Age: 4 to 7
• Grade: p to 2

When theLusitania was attacked in 1915, the American composer and New Yorker Charles Ives transformed the experience of this heartbreaking news into a musical piece. It begins with a jumble of traffic noises, then the hurdy-gurdy swells into the lovely old hymn “In the Sweet Bye-and-Bye.” In lyrical text and watercolors—sometimes in dramatic wordless spreads—this thoughtful picture book reveals not only a wartime tragedy, but a composer’s conviction that everyday music can convey profound emotion—and help heal a city. Young readers will understand that if they listen, music can be heard in the unlikeliest of places, from the busy chatter of a market to the wail of a fire engine.

Joanne Stanbridge is a librarian and illustrator as well as he author of The Leftover Kid (nominated for a Red Cedar Award) and My Four Lions, as well as a book of poetry. Her articles and reviews have appeared in literary and reviewing journals.

Joanne Stanbridge's profile page

"Unthreatening despite its subject matter, yet impressively moving."
—Kirkus
"Stanbridge writes well for young children, with a straightforward bu absorbing text."
—New York Times Book Review
"Stanbridge's work is its own curious, yet quietly inspired composition, a meditative ode to an artist."
—Publishers Weekly