Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma opens in a new tab
Joanna Ho, author
Teresa Martinez, illustrator
HarperCollins, 2021
The book is filled with historical, musical and biographical information, along with details of the 2-year Bach Project, created by Mr. Ma for exploring the power of music as activism, to support immigration, by using music to build bridges.
Before Yo-Yo Ma became one of the most renowned cellists, he wanted to play the double bass. The bass was too big for his four-year-old hands thus he became a celebrated cellist. His music became a reflection of his own life between borders, cultures, disciplines, and generations.
Ms. Ho has included pages of background to help educators and families share more information with children. Her pages on how Mr. Ma’s cello [made in 1733] is made up of parts from Indonesia, Brazil, Mongolia, and West Africa is a wonderful addition to this book about cultural diversity., acceptance and unification. Ms. Martinez is a Mexican artist whose illustrations are whimsical, colorful and inclusive.
Yo-Yo Ma performed at the US-Mexico border at the Rio Grande on April 13, 2019, as part of his multi-continent “Bach Project” tour (playing Bach’s six suites for solo cello in 36 places in the world) to prove that through music and art, we can build bridges rather than walls between different cultures. He addressed the sister cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
The “Day of Action” featured performances in both cities to celebrate the relationship between these two communities. After his performance, he gestured to the bridge to his right. “I’ve lived my life at the borders. Between cultures. Between disciplines. Between musics. Between generations.”
To accompany the book, NPR filmed a brief segment opens in a new tab which includes ‘the key to the city presentation’ to Yo-Yo Ma.
Berry Song opens in a new tab
Michaela Goade, author/illustrator
Little, Brown, 2022
Caldecott Medalist Michaela Goade’s first self-authored picture book is a gorgeous celebration of the land she knows well and the powerful wisdom of elders. Michaela is Tlingit and a tribal citizen of the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.
She illustrated “We Are Water Protectors” winner of the 2021 Caldecott Medal.
On an island at the edge of a wide, wild sea, a girl and her grandmother gather gifts from the earth. Salmon from the stream, herring eggs from the ocean, and in the forest, a world of berries.
Salmonberry, Cloudberry, Blueberry, Nagoonberry.
Huckleberry, Snowberry, Strawberry, Crowberry.
Through the seasons, they sing to the land as the land sings to them. Brimming with joy and gratitude, in every step of their journey, they forge a deeper kinship with both the earth and the generations that came before, joining in the song that connects us all.
Michaela Goade’s luminous rendering of water and forest, berries and jams glows with her love of the land and offers an invitation to readers to deepen their own relationship with the earth.
Ms. Goade weaves in more philosophy, Tlingit language, and personal photos at the end of the book.
