Musical Memories

 art by Sarah S. Brannen

          Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  From her and others, you will discover and want to celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books!  

           Thanks to Candlewick Press, I am fortunate to have a copy of this new book by G. Neri and David Litchfield showing the journey together of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. 

        Beginning with the backdrop of a reunion concert in Central Park, this story of a famous pair many grew up with during the beginnings of rock 'n roll is written in what seems like a song itself. G. Neri begins with poetic descriptions of the music of two boys who started a friendship in Queens: "Two voices sounding like autumn and spring rolled into one, like snowflakes falling on barren trees, or the joyous dance of summer in the park. Two voices intertwining, birds soaring in flight, pure harmony, pure delight."
         Paul was short and didn't like it, but he loved baseball and was good at it until he heard Simon sing as a fourth grader. Simon grabbed that young grade school audience in his hand and "holds them spellbound". He had a pitch-perfect voice and Paul was mesmerized, thought if Simon can do it, maybe Paul could, too.
        And the book, through ups and downs, tells the story in great detail, the early thrill of a hit, the depression of failures. They part and take time to grow up, off to California during the sixties or to Europe, hanging out with others, still loving music, pressed to do something for themselves. 
        After reading other biographies of those who succeeded, I come away from this one about Paul and Artie with a word that has been popular again and again recently, persistence. They did have help, record companies who gave a "listen", another chance at figuring out the best way to make their music, but they took time to learn, kept on working at different approaches, went away and returned to amazing accomplishments. 



        David Litchfield's illustrations focus on the themes of each page, in varied approaches to his colorful art. The cover art as you see above is all about Simon and Garfunkel, isn't it? And that fits, but when taking the cover off, in my eyes, the front is a sunrise while the back is a sunset, and the story of their lives lies in between, simply lovely backdrops of the city where they grew up and thrived.

             Here are two more double pages. I enjoyed Litchfield's showing both their togetherness and estrangement through his illustrations.

         Finally, the back matter is also filled with enticing information: an afterword, a discography, a bibliography, and most fun, musical connections of both artists. This holds three pages of things like favorite "first" memories of songs: Artie and Enrico Caruso, Paul played "In The Mood" often with another musician friend. I enjoyed every part of the information.

       It's a book I imagine for older students who might be studying musicians and music, influences, parallels during this spectacular time of music changes. A pairing could include other picture book biographies like Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters by Michael Mahin and Evan Turk and Listen: How Pete Seeger Got America Singing by Leda Schubert and Raul Raúl Colón or When The Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop by Laban Carrick Hill and Theodore Taylor III.