Hannah and the wrong note

Hannah takes her piano playing very seriously. Each note must be perfect--neatly pressed, precisely placed--unlike the playful wrong notes younger sister Jenny embraces. But as Hannah practices for a big school concert, one wrong note keeps popping up. Unlike the correct notes, obedient and neat in white jumpsuits with trim black bows or bowlers, this sprightly, striped rogue seems determined to mess with Hannah's perfection. Sure enough, when the concert arrives, the wrong note makes an appearance, to Hannah's distress. Despite her parents' praise, Hannah feels defeated. Later, though, inspired by Jenny's silly pas de deux with the mischievous note, Hannah tosses her sheet music and takes a chance on playing freely. And this music--infectious and imperfect--is joyously all her own. A muted palette allows the touches of bright colors to sing, and Gagnon-Dumont's dynamic compositions are perfectly orchestrated, with her clever personifications of music notes performing a perfectly charming interlude of whimsy. This spirited ode to the joys of self-expression shows young perfectionists that a little spontaneity can make music all the sweeter.

A young musician discovers the joys of improvisation. Hannah dreams of becoming a professional pianist and expects nothing less than perfection from herself. As she plays, a series of personified notes emerge, holding hands as they march and keeping "perfect pitch and a steady tempo," even as Hannah's more free-wheeling little sister, Jenny, romps among them. As Hannah practices for a performance ofSwan Lake at her school's year-end concert, she consistently gets one note wrong. "Wrong notes are fun," says Jenny. Hannah disagrees and diligently rehearses. When the wrong note makes an appearance at the concert, Hannah is devastated. Her parents praise her, but she counters, "It wasn't perfect!" At home, Jenny discovers the wrong note sulking in the corner and tickles it; together they wriggle in glee. Hannah's never seen a note do that before. Ignoring her sheet music, she tries something new, and the notes "tripped and skipped and even flipped." Hannah adores these new sounds and concludes, "Maybe the wrong notewasn't wrong." Though the story's a bit heavy-handed, with an abrupt ending, it conveys a vital message about embracing imperfection and learning to cut loose. Goth employs robust language to convey Hannah's passion, while Gagnon-Dumont's loose, energetic illustrations rely on a limited palette of browns, grays, blues, white, and black, with yellow splashes. Hannah and her family are brown-skinned; their community is diverse. Sound, visually inspired guidance for young perfectionists.(Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.