When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan

When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan
I chose this book because it is more of a "picture book" by the author I chose to concentrate on. This book definitely stands apart from so many children's books I have read so far. The first thing I noticed when I opened up the book was the brown and gold color hues the author and illustrator choose to use. From the title, the reader can possibly gather that this book is going to be about a singer. Appropriately one of the first pages is a picture of an empty stage, with a few people in the audience. The next page is juxtaposed somewhat. The outer sections of the pages show people in a balcony, as if watching a show; and in the middle-on the stage- is a picture of a little girl in the window of a brick building with a soft glow on her-as if to give the message to the reader that she is singing. This story basically chronicles Marian Anderson's life from childhood until achieving her dreams as a professional singer. Not only are the illustrations spectacular, this story also could open up many discussions regarding prejudice (even though Marian is a phenomenal singer, she experiences much prejudice for the color of her skin when performing). This story has a happy ending for Marian as she sings on stage for the Metropolitan Opera. I haven't even heard of Marian Anderson, but I feel that I have had a good introduction to her because of this book. The last few pages of the book (appropriately called "encore"), gave some background from the author and illustrator regarding Marian's life and their passion for telling her story.