Star: The Bird Who Inspired Mozart

Launching from legends about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s musically precocious starling, Messier imagines an origin story for the pet, a fresh entry point into the life of an icon of Western classical music. Exploring Vienna, a starling chick imitates springtime sounds before perching outside Mozart’s window, his music “more beautiful than anything she had ever heard.” When a bird-catcher cages her, her chirping of a memorable tune finds the ear of its composer and, an abrupt ending line reveals, inspires a lengthy creative collaboration. Messier’s Vienna burbles with German-language sounds, including a cat’s “miau” and a townsperson’s “Guten morgen,” providing opportunities for readers to imitate along with the starling. Stephens renders high-contrast illustrations using unlined shapes to create simple, blocky figures portrayed with fanciful skin tones in whimsically off-kilter cityscapes. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)