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A review by kitsuneheart
Silent Music: A Story of Bagdad by James Rumford
5.0
Visually stunning. I'm shocked to find this book wasn't up for the Caldecott, at least as an honor book. Each page is full of detail and beauty, from the collage construction and use of geometric patterns to create color and shading, to the calligraphy that is the focus of the story. It's quite disappointing to find this was shunned.
This book is mostly about Ali, a boy who loves practicing calligraphy. There are a few pages that mention the American invasion of Iraq and Ali's reaction to the bombings, which leads to a very poignant ending: the calligraphy for war is so easy, but that for peace is so hard to write.
A good book to humanize those we often merely label as the "enemy." We grow to know Ali as a diligent schoolboy before we know him as a war survivor. A stark reminder of what it is we do when we drop diplomacy in favor of arms.
This book is mostly about Ali, a boy who loves practicing calligraphy. There are a few pages that mention the American invasion of Iraq and Ali's reaction to the bombings, which leads to a very poignant ending: the calligraphy for war is so easy, but that for peace is so hard to write.
A good book to humanize those we often merely label as the "enemy." We grow to know Ali as a diligent schoolboy before we know him as a war survivor. A stark reminder of what it is we do when we drop diplomacy in favor of arms.