My Mountain Song

In this tender, lyrical story set in the mountains of Kentucky, Brenda Gail is spending the summer with her great-grandparents. Gran Pap tells her that "everybody born in the mountains got a song inside 'em," made of memories. That means Brenda Gail has one, too, "just waitin' to come out." A squabble with her troublesome cousin Melvin, in which Big Ma's favorite hen is injured, and their reconciliation help Brenda Gail start to choose the moments that will be in her song.
Rich, poignant art from esteemed illustrator Ted Rand is paired with an atmospheric text written by a true storyteller. Kids everywhere will want to make up their own "mountain songs."

Publishers Weekly

Family, feelings and life on the farm make pleasant music together as the themes in Crum's (Spitting Image) debut picture book. When middle child Brenda Gail gets to spend the summer, all by herself, on her great-grandparents' mountain homestead, her days brim with the hum of the country-roosters crowing, dogs barking, a screen door that "swishes open and snaps closed," and Gran Pap's special mountain song. Gran Pap explains that everyone 'round those parts-even Brenda Gail-has their own song, full of good memories and "things you like about the mountains." But Brenda Gail's thoughts of composing her own tune come to a screeching halt when her pesky cousin Melvin arrives on the scene. Bickering and tussling ensue, resulting in the accidental injury of one of the family's prized hens. This wake-up call inspires healing, reflection and good fodder for a song. Crum hits some sweet notes while portraying believable childhood emotions and warm intergenerational relationships. Rand's (The Memory String) bucolic watercolor scenery includes elegantly plumed fowl, a comfy wooden porch and, fittingly, some sweeping vistas of purple mountain majesties. Ages 5-8. (May) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Poet and storyteller Shutta Crum has published a number of picture books for children, including Who Took My Hairy Toe, Fox and Fluff, and All on a Sleepy Night. Shutta lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she has been a youth librarian for over twenty years.

Artist John Beder is the illustrator of Mama Loves to Mambo, Mole and Shrew the Whole Year Through, and Grizzly Pete and the Ghosts. He has also created art for movies, animation, and greeting cards. John lives in Comox, British Columbia.