Books like Mozart Finds a Melody
By Stephen Costanza
For the kid who hums made-up tunes around the house or gets stuck staring at a blank page, this is a story about where ideas actually come from — and what happens when you have to chase one down. Musical, warm, and a little frantic — a creative scramble set against old Vienna.
Across a city, ninety-two men and thirteen women bathe, dress in black-and-white clothes, and gather their instruments before heading to midtown for an 8:30 concert.
A proper young boy named Vasya Kandinsky hears colors sing and sees sounds dance when he opens his paint box — but will he dare to paint music instead of pretty houses and flowers?
A Victorian artist named Waterhouse Hawkins sets out to show the world what dinosaurs looked like by building the first life-size dinosaur models, first in England, then in New York City.
A girl named Marian discovers a rocky desert hill across the road and transforms it with her sisters and friends into Roxaboxen — a whole imagined town built from stones, old boxes, and pure invention.
A little girl waits eagerly for a new hat from her favorite aunt, but when it arrives plain and ordinary, she sets out to make it beautiful herself.
A pig named Pearl finds a talking bone on her way home from school, and their new friendship is soon tested by robbers and a hungry fox with unexpected powers.
A young Chinese American girl notices color everywhere in her everyday world, from red dragons and firecrackers to lychees, and brown in her own teddy bear.
A poor boy who longs to paint is given a magic paintbrush that brings to life whatever he creates, until a greedy emperor sets out to capture him and claim its power for himself.
A young painter defies a male-dominated art world by pouring paint straight onto canvas and pushing it with mops and squeegees, inventing a whole new way to make pictures.
A little girl moves through her day with family and friends, noticing that everyone feels colors differently — her neighbor's red is angry, hers is brave like a fire truck.
A young girl decides that a new playmate is her best friend, even though she's never had one before, finding proof in small shared moments like drawing each other and pretending to be pickles.
