A Forest Full of Music

Reviews / Votes

"A young rabbit longs to sing. Toby, a brown puffball with ears sticking straight up to a triangular point,
hears the blackbirds singing every night and wishes that he could join them.
But his mother admonishes him: "Silly boy," she tells him. "Rabbits can't
sing." Still, Toby is determined, and his friend Tim, a bushy-tailed squirrel,
encourages him to follow his dream. Unfortunately, when Toby opens his mouth, a
horrible screeching sound comes out instead of a beautiful melody. Embarrassed,
Toby runs into the woods. He cries and stomps his feet in anger. But, in a
moment of transformation, those staccato noises turn out to be music of their
own. Ambient nature sounds-the tap of a woodpecker's beak, a deer banging his
antlers against a tree-combine to create a grand woodland concerto. Thrumming
with onomatopoeias, the sounds swirl between hues of greens and yellows that
brighten the forest setting. Originally published in Dutch, this tale is a bit
wordy, but love and respect for music-and how it can be expressed in unexpected
ways-shine through. Appended "Rabbit Tips for Making Music" encourage readers
to stomp, tap, clap, and make other sounds to fill the room. Reframes the idea of what music might be." - Kirkus Reviews