Our Little Mushroom: A Story of Franz Schubert and His Friends. Emily Arnold McCully. 2022. [August] 40 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: Our friend Franz auditioned for the emperor's choir school when he was eleven. He barely spoke a word, but he sang like an angel. When we burst into applause, Franz's face turned red as a rose. We students called him "Schwammerl," our "Little Mushroom." He was very small and quite round. His talent amazed us, but he was so shy!
Premise/plot: Our Little Mushroom is a picture book biography of Franz Schubert, a composer and musician (1797-1828). It is narrated collectively--I suppose--from his friends. It uses "we" and "our" throughout. It is not an omniscient third person narration. But a more familiar--yet plural--we. It is the story of Schubert and his music (and his friends who enjoyed his music).
My thoughts: I don't know honestly that I've ever read any biography written with this we/our narrative voice. I've read hundreds of picture book biographies, but none written quite like this. It is music appreciation.
It wasn't as exciting/thrilling as I hoped. But perhaps that's just me?
© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers
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