NONFICTION

Building an Orchestra of Hope: How Favio Chavez Taught Children to Make Music from Trash

by Carmen Oliver (text) & illus. by Luisa Uribe
Eerdmans. Oct. 2022. 44p. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9780802854674.
COPY ISBN
K-Gr 4–Don’t let readers stop at the last page of this encouraging picture book about Favio Chavez and how he and his people turned a sea of trash into sea of hope by making musical instruments from garbage: “The world sends us garbage. We send back music.” Oliver conveys Chavez’s story with grace and understanding. The people of Cateura, Paraguay, live in a sea of filth, constantly reminded they are living on a mountain of trash. The ganchero workers construct instruments to create a Recycled Orchestra. Uribe’s illustrations seem to give their own musical story of what Oliver is trying to convey. Her art is subtle and soft, carrying readers along to see what happens to this beautiful community. Her illustrated scenes get brighter and brighter as the story comes to an end.
VERDICT A strong nonfiction selection to convey that anything is possible, and that even garbage can lead to hope.
Reviewed by Jacquetta Etheridge , Oct 28, 2022

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