Because

Because. Mo Willems. Illustrated by Amber Ren. 2019. Hyperion. 40 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Because a man named Ludwig wrote beautiful music--a man named Franz was inspired to create his own. Because many years later, people wanted to hear Franz's beautiful music--they formed an orchestra. Because a man had practiced since he was a kid--he was asked to join.

Premise/plot: A young girl's life is changed forever when she attends a symphony. Half the story focuses on the before--the many, many becauses that lead up to that magical moment. Half the story focuses on the after--again using many, many becauses. Essentially the premise is MUSIC IS FOOD FOR THE SOUL. Also that it only takes a moment for a life to be changed.

From that moment on, the girl learned everything she could about music--because it fed her.
Soon, she started to write music, too--because, like Franz, the young woman had something to share.  

My thoughts: I loved, loved, loved, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this one. It is a BEAUTIFUL picture book. It had me at hello--with the end pages. Though to be fair, there is something about the cover of this one that says READ ME, READ ME. Though to be honest, I would have read this one anyway no matter what the cover looked like BECAUSE it's MO WILLEMS.

I thought this one was beautifully written. This one is perhaps a bit more sentimental than most of Mo Willem's previous books. Willem may perhaps be best known for two super-popular series: Elephant & Piggie and Pigeon. There is something almost lyrical about the text of this one--pure magic.

I also thought this one was beautifully illustrated. I'll never know if the illustrations alone would have hooked me--swept me up, up, and away--because I also fell head over heels in love with the text. But together magic is made in this one.

I would recommend this one FOR ALL AGES. The symphony that inspired her was playing Schubert's Symphony No. 8.

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 10 out of 10



© 2019 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews