The Music of Life

In the middle of the night, Lenny the composer is stuck trying to write a symphony: “he’d been sitting at his desk for hours, and not a single note of music had come to mind.” As his frustration crescendos, inspiration arrives from an unlikely place: Pipo, his cat. The “Lick, Lick, Lick,” sound of Pipo lapping up milk triggers a flow of inspiration as Lenny begins to hear ideas for music in the world around him: “ ‘Oho! What is this?’ The leaking sink gave Lenny another idea. ‘It’s not a symphony, but it feels like music!’ ” Ambient sounds—the tinkle of a bicycle bell, the laughter of a baby—lead to creation. Drawing loose inspiration from the work of Leonard Bernstein, Thomas shows one way that composers find ideas, and loose, color-washed illustrations of Lenny’s Parisian world have something of the charm of Ludwig Bemelmans about them. A symphonic ode to the act of creation. Ages 3–6. [em](Feb.) [/em]