A Song for Cambodia

by Michelle Lord, Shino Arihara (Illustrator)

Overview

The true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, Cambodian American musician and human rights activist, who as a young boy survived Khmer Rouge work camps by learning to play a musical instrument.

When Arn was a young boy in Cambodia, his days were filled with love, laughter, and the sweet sounds of music. That all changed suddenly in 1975 when Arn's village was invaded by Khmer Rouge soldiers and his family was torn apart.

Nine-year-old Arn was taken to a children's work camp, where he labored long hours in the rice fields under the glaring eyes of threatening soldiers. Overworked, underfed, and in constant fear for his life, Arn had to find a way to survive. When guards asked for volunteers to play music one day, Arn bravely raised his hand-taking a chance that would change the course of his life.

A Song for Cambodia is the inspirational true story of Arn Chorn-Pond. His heartfelt music created beauty in a time of darkness and turned tragedy into healing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620142288
Publisher:	Lee & Low Books
Publication date:	03/01/2008
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.75(w) x 10.75(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD840L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 11 Years

About the Author

Michelle Lord fell in love with the culture of Cambodia when she traveled there to adopt her youngest daughter. She was inspired to write Little Sap and Monsieur Rodin after discovering the story behind Auguste Rodin's Cambodian Dancer sketches. Lord lives in New Braunfels, Texas, with her husband and their three children.

Shino Arihara is a full-time illustrator who was born in the United States and grew up in Japan. She felt an immediate connection to Arn Chorn-Pond’s story because a close friend, and fellow artist, went through a similar experience when he lived in Cambodia. "I wanted to do this book for him," says Arihara. She lives with her husband, a musician, in Redwood City, California.

Editorial Reviews

"A sensitive reconstruction . . . [A Song for Cambodia] effectively captures the terror and tension of life under the Pol Pot regime. Arihara crafts somber scenes in broad brushstrokes to illustrate this important story of devastation and rebuilding in Southeast Asia." — Kirkus Reviews

"[A Song for Cambodia] offers an age-appropriate view of a subject rarely visited in children's books." — Publishers Weekly

"Amazing and inspiring, this biography is an excellent choice for multicultural studies." — Booklist

"A Song for Cambodia is a children's picture book about serious matters - war, human cruelty, and the power of music to kindle hope in one's darkest hour. . . . Though A Song for Cambodia covers somber subject matter, it does so in a tasteful and respectful fashion; the result is a high-quality picture book strongly recommended especially for public library children's collections." — Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

This biographical story about a Cambodian boy who survives the reign of the Khmer Rouge may be more educational than engaging, but it offers an age-appropriate view of a subject rarely visited in children's books. Lord (Little Sap and Monsieur Rodin) begins with Arn Chorn-Pond's idyllic upbringing in a home "filled with the sweet sounds of music and laughter" and quickly shifts to the invasion of his village in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge, who dispatch Arn to a horrific children's work camp. Starving, working endless hours in the rice paddies, Arn steps forward when soldiers ask for volunteers to learn to play the khim, a wooden string instrument, and the songs "filled Arn's empty stomach and soothed his broken heart." Heavy with brown and gray, Arihara's (Ceci Ann's Day of Why) bleak paintings depict the dreadful, e.g., a soldier with a machine gun marches away with the khim teacher and less successful music students (they go "to the sweet-smelling orange groves, and the solider returned alone"). The tale ends with Arn's escape, adoption by an American volunteer and gradual entry into American life, where he recovers from trauma by playing the music of his native land. Endnotes describe his ongoing efforts to rebuild Cambodia and revive its arts. Ages 6-11. (Mar.)

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Publishers Weekly

Gr 4-6- Lord introduces Arn Chorn-Pond, who, in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge attacked his village, was taken to a children's work camp. There, he labored in the rice paddies in enforced silence, starving for food and the joyful sound of music. When the soldiers asked for volunteers to learn the khim , a traditional Cambodian instrument, he bravely raised his hand. Later he escaped, ended up in a Thai refugee camp, and was rescued by an American volunteer who adopted him before returning to the U.S. As Chorn-Pond struggled to adjust to this new life, he began to make music again, which allowed him to heal, and vowed to return to his homeland to help others in the same way. Gouache paintings underscore the changing mood of Chorn-Pond's story. The beginning scene depicts him playing with his siblings against a light blue sky. Later, the colors turn darker, underlining the horrors of the prison camp. The final spread shows Chorn-Pond smiling in a bright room, playing the khim for his new American family. A preface provides historical context, and an afterword offers more information about Chorn-Pond and an extensive source list. Use this solid picture-book biography with Jen Bryant's Music for the End of Time (Eerdmans, 2005), another story about triumphing over suffering with the help of music.-Monika Schroeder, American Embassy School Library, New Delhi, India

School Library Journal

A sensitive reconstruction, based both on published sources and several original interviews, of the childhood experiences of Arn Chorn-Pond. A Cambodian who was separated from his musical family when Khmer Rouge soldiers swept through his village, Chorn-Pond survived by learning to play the stringed khim in a brutal work camp, escaped when Vietnam invaded in 1979 and was ultimately adopted by an American rescue worker. Lord opens with a historical overview, closes with an afterword on Chorn-Pond's later return to his native land to initiate ongoing efforts to reclaim its musical heritage and in between tells his tale in simple language, leaving explicit violence offstage. Though her narrative is sometimes overwritten-when the Khmer Rouge came, "songbirds stopped chirping and monks were silenced"-it effectively captures the terror and tension of life under the Pol Pot regime. Arihara crafts somber scenes in broad brushstrokes to illustrate this important story of devastation and rebuilding in Southeast Asia. (multimedia resource list) (Picture book/biography. 8-10)

Kirkus Reviews