Vivaldi

(Paperback, Main)

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Description

A moving story for any child who has felt lonely, worried, or anxious and found solace in friendship with a beloved pet. Summer is here and Tyra spends many happy days lying in the warm grass with her new cat, Vivaldi. What could be better than staring up into the blue sky with a purring kitten on your tummy But soon it's September, and while getting her backpack ready for the first day of school, Tyra feels everything she is going back to and a hard painful lump forms in her throat. School is a place of no words for Tyra, a place where the girls stare at her and stop talking when she walks by, a place where she feels completely alone. Only music can put an end to this feeling, music and her cat. Maybe, just maybe, things will be different this year now that it's not Tyra alone anymore, but Tyra and her cat. Vivaldi is a book for anyone who's ever felt alone, anyone who's ever worried or been anxious, and anyone who knows what a difference one friend can make.

Reviews

One of Flavorwire's 20 Most Beautiful Children's Books of All Time

Rarely are [the] contradictions [of childhood] more vibrantly or delicately explored than inVivaldi. . . Award-winning poet Helge Torvund playfully and artfully blurs the lines between verse and prose, distilling for the reader the magic and loneliness in Tyras daily life. Some passages, like the one where Tyra names her cat, that are startlingly beautiful. . . . [Vivaldi] is a childrens book of uncommon wisdom, creativity, and tenderness. Theres something for everyone in Tyras story. Hannah Bulger,Childrens Books Ireland

The text . . . is lyrical, at times gently humorous and at others poignant, yet ultimately life-affirming. Strong lines and bold shapes in a striking array of muted colors create the groundwork for compelling illustrations. . . . Created by an award-winning author-and-illustrator duo, this long-format picture book with a compact trim is a shorter, more visual read-alike for R.J. Palacio'sWonder(2012) and other books about kindness and compassion. . . . This quiet, contemplative story explores the beautiful, complex internal lives of children. Kirkus

"I barely know where to beginMari's illustration is like a party where the dress code is eyeballs. Her style is so discernible it's as if we can see inside her head, and her head is being used as a basket to carry marshmallows and dumplings to an evening picnic with some polar bears." Liv Siddall, It's Nice That

Author Bio

Helge Torvund was born in H , Norway. He is a psychologist, children's writer, poet, essayist, and literary critic. In 1989, he won the Nynorsk Literature Prize and in 2016 was the recipient of the Herman Wildenvey Poetry Award. Mari Kanstad Johnsen was born in Bergen, Norway, and studied at Oslo National Academy of the Arts before completing a master's degree in storytelling at Konstfack in Stockholm. She has written and illustrated many picture books, including I'm Out of Here, which received a special mention in the Bologna Ragazzi Awards. She is based in Oslo. Jeanie Shaterian (1953-2017) was a translator of Serbo-Croatian, French, and Norwegian.