Mister Rogers’ Gift of Music

Visceral text and illustrations relay the songwriting inspirations of Fred Rogers (1928–2003) while spotlighting music’s unifying power. As a lonely, sickly, and bullied child, Rogers found comfort in music. As an adult, he created his legendary television program to help children process their feelings, in part through the hundreds of songs he shared on the air. Cangelosi imbues the rhythmic text with readaloud-friendly literary devices, such as the alliterative “raging rhythms that roared,” while Calatzis’s busy mixed-media illustrations, which depict racial diversity, demand close inspection. Rogers’s song lyrics swirl alongside splashes of bright color throughout, which accompany emotion-oriented metaphors (“storm of dark feelings”) alongside realistic depictions of favorite characters. An author’s note and bibliography conclude. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)