I always enjoy going to Lisa Rogers’ book events. I didn’t realize that I was slightly familiar with John Cage, the subject of her most recent picture book, Beautiful Noise: The Music of John Cage, illustrated by Il Sung Na.
At her book launch at Wellesley Books, I learned that he was a kind of inventor and musician, someone who made music out of ordinary objects. Someone who made music out of silence.
In fact, 4′33″ (four minutes, thirty-three seconds) was a composition that my son would request at his hour-long guitar lesson with his teacher when he was feeling tired. It’s a legit song in which the musician (and audience) experiences four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence.
Lisa Rogers’ books have a wonderful way of drawing the reader deep into the story; we get a special seat where we get to both observe and participate and, in the end, we feel like we have made a new friend.
Here is her book launch, complete with musical instrument audience participation!
Here is my unboxing video of her book:
p.s. Related posts:
Celebrating Musicians in Picture Books
Lisa Rogers 16 Words Book Launch
10 Picture Books about Listening to the World Around Us9 Poetry Picture Books for POEM IN MY POCKET
Favorite New Picture Books of 2019
Cover Reveal for GNOMES and UNGNOMES: Poems of Hidden Creatures
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My books:
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me