Beatrice and the Nightingale

Gr 2-4–Following the publication of Sharks Unhooked, Newman’s second picture book biography shines the spotlight on a woman whose story is not already a common fixture on library shelves. The subject this time is British cellist Beatrice Harrison, best known for recording duets in which her cello is accompanied by a singing nightingale. Newman’s lyrical prose is heavily studded with figurative language, engaging readers’ senses with descriptions of music “as silvery as the wind” and the wooden cello “the color of the setting sun.” Follath’s ink and watercolor illustrations provide perfect accompaniment for the dreamlike language, depicting music itself as a multicolored stream of notes, flowers, and birds that flows from Harrison’s cello and contrasts with the otherwise subdued hues of the surrounding images. Back matter delves a little deeper into the disputed authenticity of Harrison’s recordings and brings readers on a side trip through the early history of radio technology. Since Harrison, who is white, is not a household name, librarians may need to handsell this title to save it from obscurity among the crowded biography shelves.