The Music of Life

by Louis Thomas

Overview

Full of joy and discovery, Louis Thomas' The Music of Life is a simple, melodious picture book about finding big inspiration and beauty in the smallest of details.

At night when everyone else is asleep, one artist sits awake--pencil in hand, stuck. Lenny is a composer, but this evening, no music floats from his head.

Then as night breaks into dawn, Lenny's cat, Pipo, begins lapping milk. Lick lick lick. Birds yawn awake, singing in the trees. Tweet tweet! A bike bell tings on the street below. Suddenly, Lenny notices a rhythm to the world around him. He pulls on his coat and walks through the city to write down every sound he can find. Lenny listens to a gardener, a jogger, a dogwalker, and more neighborhood characters.

Finally, the morning's sounds culminate in a sun-dappled symphony that Lenny conducts in the center of the park.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250777331
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	02/18/2020
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	56 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Louis Thomas graduated from Gobelins, Paris, and Calarts, Los Angeles, in 2012. He then worked full-time in Californian animation studios before returning to France. Louis currently lives and works with his cat, Pipo, in his art studio, which can be found between the Pantheon and the Luxembourg Gardens of Paris, France. His first book was Hug It Out!
Louis Thomas graduated from Gobelins, Paris, and Calarts, Los Angeles, in 2012. He then worked full-time in Californian animation studios before returning to France. Louis currently lives and works with his cat Pipo in his art studio, which can be found between the Pantheon and the Luxembourg Gardens of Paris, France. His first book was Hug It Out!

Editorial Reviews

11/04/2019

In the middle of the night, Lenny the composer is stuck trying to write a symphony: “he’d been sitting at his desk for hours, and not a single note of music had come to mind.” As his frustration crescendos, inspiration arrives from an unlikely place: Pipo, his cat. The “Lick, Lick, Lick,” sound of Pipo lapping up milk triggers a flow of inspiration as Lenny begins to hear ideas for music in the world around him: “ ‘Oho! What is this?’ The leaking sink gave Lenny another idea. ‘It’s not a symphony, but it feels like music!’ ” Ambient sounds—the tinkle of a bicycle bell, the laughter of a baby—lead to creation. Drawing loose inspiration from the work of Leonard Bernstein, Thomas shows one way that composers find ideas, and loose, color-washed illustrations of Lenny’s Parisian world have something of the charm of Ludwig Bemelmans about them. A symphonic ode to the act of creation. Ages 3–6. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"Drawing loose inspiration from the work of Leonard Bernstein, Thomas shows one way that composers find ideas, and loose, color-washed illustrations of Lenny’s Parisian world have something of the charm of Ludwig Bemelmans about them. A symphonic ode to the act of creation." —Publishers Weekly

"Lively and stimulating, inviting listeners to join in. Youngsters will remain engaged and enjoy mimicking the onomatopoeic sounds for the assorted noisemakers throughout." —Kirkus Reviews

"The lively and animated pen-and-watercolor cartoon artwork is the perfect complement to the upbeat text. VERDICT A fine choice for budding young artists and a nice reminder that the mundane can also be sublime." —School Library Journal

"The text deftly evokes the often-overlooked sounds of daily life, providing plenty of opportunities for young viewers to join in, making for a lively storytime read." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB)

"A lovely lesson on the wonders that await when one simply stops to notice." —Booklist

From the Publisher

01/01/2020

PreS-Gr 2—Lenny is an artist who lives in Paris and one night he decides to compose a symphony. It's slow going, but inspiration strikes when his cat Pipo starts licking a bowl of milk and Lenny writes down the notes he hears: "Lick, Lick, Lick." Then, he adds the sounds of the dripping faucet: "Plic, Ploc, Pluc." Admittedly, Lenny realizes that what he hears might not be a symphony but "it feels like music!" He ventures outside and incorporates the sounds of bicycles, dogs barking, shop shutters being rolled up, joggers huffing, and so on. After writing it all down, Lenny realizes that he has a composed a symphony of life in all its glory. The lively and animated pen-and-watercolor cartoon artwork is the perfect complement to the upbeat text. VERDICT A fine choice for budding young artists and a nice reminder that the mundane can also be sublime. As an added bonus, the sheet music to this symphony is included.—Amy Nolan, St. Joseph Public Library, MI

School Library Journal

2019-11-10
A composer hits all the wrong notes until he hears music from unexpected sources.

Lenny lives with his cat, Pipo, in Paris. Uninspired while trying to write a symphony, he stares dejectedly at his empty page when…Pipo laps at his water bowl and—why not?—Lenny writes these sounds down. A dripping faucet and tweeting birds supply additional "notes." Then more present themselves: a bicycle bell, metal shutters against a shop's door, a barking dog. Lenny acknowledges these certainly feel musical, so they belong in his composition, too. A buzzing bee convinces Lenny to venture into the park, and oh, what musical magic emerges from the multitude of sounds on offer: "The symphony of life!" Lenny happily returns home, his formerly blank page now "full of ideas." His symphony is actually transcribed on a page of sheet music, and savvy readers who wish to do so may try playing it. The simple plot isn't original, but it is lively and stimulating, inviting listeners to join in. Youngsters will remain engaged and enjoy mimicking the onomatopoeic sounds for the assorted noisemakers throughout; these are rendered in italicized, larger type. The loose, cartoon illustrations are expressive and child appealing. Lenny is white; other characters are diverse.

Music is all around. One need only listen. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews