Recent Read: Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad

Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M. T. Anderson

This is a story about war, the power of music, and humanity.

It was just as Shostakovich's career as a composer in St Petersburg (soon to become Leningrad) was getting started that Lenin, and then Stalin seized power over Russia, turning it into a totalitarian hell. And yet, even after living through the atrocities Stalin unleashed on his own people, they rallied to fight for Mother Russia when Hitler invaded with his armies. The Soviets were terribly unprepared, and so Hitler's progress was fast, soon cutting off all of Leningrad's supply lines. Hitler decided that rather than attack, they would just wait for the entire city of 2 million + to starve to death.

And so Shostakovich's home town faced a Russian winter with little to no food or fuel. What role would Shostakovich's music
play in this devastating tragedy? Despite the Soviet government's persecution of him before the war, he was a popular and beloved composer both in the USSR and abroad. As he began work on a new symphony, the Soviet leadership took interest. They knew it could be significant to would-be allies in the west, as well as to a suffering population at home. They went to great lengths to get the score sent abroad to help garner support from Americans, whose aid they were in desperate need of. But the symphony's history would culminate in Leningrad itself, where starving and dying musicians rallied together to perform it to an emotional and desperate crowd. It would become a symbol of hope.

It's a fascinating and tragic story. One of the interesting things is how unreliable the sources they have are. Anderson is candid about the questionable nature of the records of Shostakovich and his life. He dedicates a lot of time to describing Shostakovich's music, and its possible meanings. There has been much speculation over the years, and Anderson gives us a window into many perspectives. As I listened to the symphonies described, I could remember Anderson's own careful descriptions of the music.

What struck me most was the section devoted to Leningrad during the siege. It's astounding what the people there endured, and what some did in such abominable circumstances (both good and bad). As Anderson suggests in the video below, this story indirectly poses the question, "What does it mean to be human?"

Picture This: Little Elliot Big Family

Little Elliot Big Family by Mike Curato
 
Elliot and Mouse are the best of friends. Mouse is looking forward to his family reunion where he’ll eat his grandmother’s cheese chowder with his 15 brothers, 19 sisters, 25 aunts, 27 uncles, and 147 cousins. When Mouse leaves, Elliot is all alone. He walks around the city and sees families everywhere. “Elliot wondered what it would be like to have 147 cousins. Or even just one.” Just as he’s about to be taken over by loneliness, Mouse comes to find him and invite him to join his family in their reunion.

Mike Curato’s debut, Little Elliot Big City tells the story of how a small polka-dotted elephant and a mouse bonded over a shared love of cupcakes. Maybe it’s my bias talking, but I think this one is even better than the first. As someone who comes from a large extended family, I really appreciated this family-oriented story. You have the main storyline of a lonely elephant, and his touching adoption into the mouse family. You also have a number of lovely family scenes as he walks around 1940s New York: brothers playing baseball, fathers playing with their children, sisters sharing secrets. It’s touching and it evokes the feelings I have about family.

Curato’s pencil illustrations are soft and inviting. He creates a vintage feel with his unique combination of pencil and Photoshop (read about it here). Often his illustrations look like they could be scenes out of an old movie. He uses color and composition to enhance the mood and emotions of the story. Curato pictures Elliot as a small, lone character among a sea of empty seats, or as the only soul on a snowy street. Page after page is perfectly composed. I just love looking at the illustrations. The family photographs that cover the endpages are a kick, too.

 

Picture This: Fire Engine No. 9

Fire Engine No. 9 by Mike Austin


Fire Engine No. 9 is exactly what it sounds like—a book showing a day in the life of fire engine number nine. The text is almost all sound effects—the whoosh of firemen sliding down the pole, the brrriing of the alarm, the bark of the Dalmatian. The illustrations are exciting, colorful, and action-packed. Austin uses each double-page spread to its fullest advantage. The endpages show fire fighters' tools, and there's a small lesson on fire safety at the end. This is a must for truck-loving kids.

Picture This In a Village by the Sea

In a Village by the Sea by Muon Van, illustrated by April Chu

 On the surface this is a simple tale—a day in the life of a family in a Vietnamese fishing village. The father goes out to sea early in the morning; his wife stays home and makes soup as her child naps. They eagerly wait for father’s return.

The story turns a bit magical when the cricket who lives in a hole in the floor paints a scene of the father’s activities. He’s caught in a storm, looking at a picture of his family, hoping to return to them.

It’s beautifully done in every way. It feels a bit like gently rolling waves—rhythmic and soothing in its cyclical nature. Each new page repeats a bit from the previous page in text and illustration. And the whole tale comes full circle at the end as the father envisions his family in that house that has already been so carefully described. Where at the beginning he looked back toward his home, the book ends with his family looking out to sea toward him.

The illustrations are beautiful. They’re filled with wonderful details. I love seeing the carefully chopped vegetables on the table, the chilies hanging on the kitchen wall, the flip flops lined up just outside the back door. Chu uses creative angles and perspectives to bring visual interest. I love the overhead view of the kitchen with the baby reaching for the dog.

And then there’s that cricket. Is his painting really happening or has he imagined it? But perhaps that’s the point. In the author’s note, Muon Van says of her own fisherman father, “we would often wonder where my father was, if he found the catch he was looking for, and when he would return home again, safe and sound.” Those mysterious paintings convey this feeling very well.

On a more philosophical note, this story captures the essence of life—work, food, and family—and the beauty of those simple necessities. It underscores what home is.

 

Picture This: Wait

Wait by Antoinette Portis

Antoinette Portis’s Wait contains two words (okay, three, but for my purposes, let’s say two): “Hurry!” and “Wait.” A mother is rushing to get to the train on time, but her son is much more interested in the world they’re passing than punctuality. He wants to pet the dog, and watch the construction and help feed the ducks, and look at the tropical fish in the window.

But of course, mom finally relents when her son points out a double rainbow. “Yes, wait,” she says (there’s the third word).

Portis has illustrated the book in a flat style, with thick charcoal outlines and lots of color—bold eye-catching, especially for young readers. Readers will be able to anticipate each new “wait” request because of details in the illustrations. I love how much well it portrays a fundamental difference between adults and children. It reminds me of a street photographer describing how children notice everything. He can stand and take pictures of people walking by in New York City, and the adults often walk by without acknowledging him—whether they’re too busy to stop, don’t notice or don’t care. Children, on the other hand, always notice and always look. Children haven’t lost their sense of wonder at the world. And I think this book reminds us of that and how much there is around us that’s worth noticing.

Independent Reading: Flop to the Top

Flop to the Top by Eleanor Davis and Drew Weing

Wanda is a superstar, complete with fans (unwilling siblings), a red carpet, and glamorous clothing. When the selfie she takes with her dog Wilbur goes viral, Wanda is dismayed to find that the crowds of fans aren’t there for her, they’re there for Wilbur! As Wilbur skyrockets to stardom, Wanda gets left behind.

Furious that her rightful fame has been stolen by her lump of a dog, Wanda goes after him, trying to convince the world that Wilbur is not the funny, cool one, rather she is. But soon jealousy morphs to genuine concern for her beloved pet, and Wanda seeks reconciliation. This one is funny, sweet and quite modern.