FEBRUARY 2023 - AudioFile
There’s warmth and enthusiasm as Robert Blackson explains that the Symphony for a Broken Orchestra—Philadelphia’s public initiative to repair broken instruments and bring music back to the schools—came about when he discovered an abandoned school gym filled with damaged pianos. Tyla Collier’s voice brings the music of this enchanting story to listeners. Her melodic tones delightfully mirror the sounds of various instruments that sound beautiful even as they fall into disrepair. Collier's and Blackson’s performances are sure to result in requests for encores of this compact and cheery production, especially from budding musicians and future patrons of the arts. M.F. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 10/03/2022
The music-filled city of Philadelphia resounds with “sharp noises and dull noises and funny noises and sad noises,” some of them made by the musical instruments of school children. But when instruments are damaged and abandoned, “away they go”—until a local artist decides to play the broken objects “in new and creative ways” (“Just because something is broken doesn’t mean that it can’t also be beautiful”). The figures in Millward’s digitally rendered illustrations reflect contemporary Philadelphia’s racial and ethnic diversity, while bold yellow highlights pop from the saturated palette, emphasizing musical instruments and onomatopoeia. Ignatow’s reiterative, sound-focused text builds toward the final symphony, which readers can view at a provided video link. Back matter also includes a note from the person behind the symphony. Ages 6–9. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Millward’s scribbly, digital illustrations and high-octane settings and colors have a childlike quality perfectly attuned to the subject. The sounds, rendered in black letters with yellow highlighting, dominate the designs; musical notes and bright squiggles pulsate across the pages.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
The figures in Millward’s digitally rendered illustrations reflect contemporary Philadelphia’s racial and ethnic diversity, while bold yellow highlights pop from the saturated palette, emphasizing musical instruments and onomatopoeia. Ignatow’s reiterative, sound-focused text builds toward the final symphony.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
This picture book tells how the city of Philadelphia turned its scrapped instruments into an exquisite celebration of music. Colorful, childlike artwork sets the right tempo, depicting students with varying skin colors playing musical instruments around the city. . . . A euphonious and unique look at urban renewal.
—Booklist (starred review)
FEBRUARY 2023 - AudioFile
There’s warmth and enthusiasm as Robert Blackson explains that the Symphony for a Broken Orchestra—Philadelphia’s public initiative to repair broken instruments and bring music back to the schools—came about when he discovered an abandoned school gym filled with damaged pianos. Tyla Collier’s voice brings the music of this enchanting story to listeners. Her melodic tones delightfully mirror the sounds of various instruments that sound beautiful even as they fall into disrepair. Collier's and Blackson’s performances are sure to result in requests for encores of this compact and cheery production, especially from budding musicians and future patrons of the arts. M.F. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2022-06-08
Does a room full of broken musical instruments mean the Philadelphia schools will go silent?
Not when Robert Blackson, the artistic director of Temple Contemporary—a center for exhibitions and public programming at Temple University—gets onboard, according to endnotes explaining the inspiration for the titular symphony, a music education nonprofit, and this book. The story opens with children, depicted with a multitude of skin tones and hairstyles, in classrooms and on the streets enjoying their instruments: “Philadelphia is full of NOISE.” Millward’s scribbly, digital illustrations and high-octane settings and colors have a childlike quality perfectly attuned to the subject. The sounds, rendered in black letters with yellow highlighting, dominate the designs; musical notes and bright squiggles pulsate across the pages. A young Black saxophonist bops along, passing a mural of Grover Washington Jr., but the sax is abandoned when the musician runs for shelter during a storm. The drummer sets down his snare to purchase a soft pretzel, and someone steps on it. A small child stuffs a sibling’s trumpet with toy animals, then comments that it “sounds like a fart.” But “just because / something is broken doesn’t / mean that it can’t also be beautiful,” and a performance using the discarded instruments is held—the fundraiser that occurred in 2017. Listeners can tune in on the Vimeo link provided. The concert and narrative conclude in a crescendo of joyful cacophony. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A splendid example of urban renewal. (Picture book. 4-7)
