Waiting to Sing

Waiting to Sing

Written by: Howard Kaplan

Illustrated by: Herve Blondon

Brief Summary: A story of a boy, his family, a piano, and how music comes to help when he needs it the most.

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This book is recommended for children between the ages of 5 and 9. I actually would extend this recommendation to 5+... I am 21 years old and I found this book to be enjoyable. The story is powerful and moving; the subject of death is present and music is used as an outlet for the family's sadness and anger. The illustrations are unique: they are large and run off the page; the pictures are colored with different tints of yellow, red, and brown. A student who enjoys music may find this book appealing. Overall I enjoyed reading this story. The idea of healthily expressing your emotions through music is a powerful message and an important message to learn. I would recommend this book to students as an individual read; the subject of death may be difficult for some children to handle/grasp and due to this I wouldn't want to read this book out-loud to an entire classroom.