The Extraordinary Music of Mr. Ives: The True Story of a Famous American Composer

When the Lusitania was attacked in 1915, the American composer and New Yorker Charles Ives transformed the experience of this heartbreaking news into a musical piece. It begins with a jumble of traffic noises, then the hurdy-gurdy swells into the lovely old hymn “In the Sweet Bye-and-Bye.” In lyrical text and watercolors—sometimes in dramatic wordless spreads—this thoughtful picture book reveals not only a wartime tragedy, but a composer’s conviction that everyday music can convey profound emotion—and help heal a city. Young readers will understand that if they listen, music can be heard in the unlikeliest of places, from the busy chatter of a market to the wail of a fire engine. |

"Unthreatening despite its subject matter, yet impressively moving."
—Kirkus

"Stanbridge writes well for young children, with a straightforward bu absorbing text."
—New York Times Book Review

"Stanbridge's work is its own curious, yet quietly inspired composition, a meditative ode to an artist."
—Publishers Weekly