This Magical, Musical Night

Greene makes classical music energetically inviting in this picture book that describes a night at the symphony. A black-haired, pale-skinned adult and two children with similar characteristics excitedly find their seats in the concert hall as the musicians sit onstage. Then the magic begins. Rhymes have a snappy beat as Greene traces the concert’s progression: “Notes ascend—swoop and chase!/ They curl, unfurl, swirl round this place!/ Like a choir blending fine,/ a symphony! So divine!” Sanchez creates richly colored digital illustrations in an animation-esque style, featuring lissome, smartly dressed instrument players with differing abilities, religions, and skin tones against quickly shifting spreads: the strings float through the night sky on golden threads, the woodwinds conjure a verdant, idyllic forest spread. This visit to the symphony evokes Fantasia in its immersive blend of music and movement through dreamlike scenes. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)