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MR. MERGLER, BEETHOVEN, AND ME

Name: MR. MERGLER, BEETHOVEN, AND ME
Author: David Gutnick
ISBN: 978-1-77260-059-9

by David Gutnick ; illustrated by Mathilde Cinq-Mars ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2018

A heartwarming story about the magic of music, intergenerational relationships, and believing.

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A young Chinese girl and an elderly white man develop a bond through a shared love of music.

Moving to a new neighborhood or city is tough enough. Moving to a new country where you don’t speak the language is even more daunting. Not long after the narrator arrives in Montreal from China, she meets Mr. Mergler at a nearby park. When he asks her to sing her favorite song for him, he recognizes her aptitude for music and offers to give her piano lessons. Under Mr. Mergler’s patient tutelage, the narrator quickly learns to decipher the notes on the page into music. “My fingers began to fly, and so did my lessons.” Mr. Mergler isn’t the only one keeping track of her progress. The narrator imagines that Beethoven, or rather a bust of the famous composer, shows his approval (or lack thereof) from his perch atop Mr. Mergler’s piano. Barely six months later, the elderly piano teacher is too weak to teach anymore. Upon his death, he leaves his “star pupil” a poignant letter and a precious gift. Cinq-Mars’ delicate sketches, hand-drawn in color pencil, frame Gutnick’s quiet text with charm and whimsy. The affection between the narrator and her teacher, as well as within her family, is palpable. An author’s note reveals that Mr. Mergler was a real, longtime piano teacher in Montreal and provides a biographical sketch of Beethoven.

A heartwarming story about the magic of music, intergenerational relationships, and believing. (Picture book. 4-9)

Pub Date: March 13, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-77260-059-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Second Story Press

Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

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LITTLE DAYMOND LEARNS TO EARN

by Daymond John ; illustrated by Nicole Miles ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2023

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.

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How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!

John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)

Pub Date: March 21, 2023

ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)