When Marian Sang - Essay Example

College When Marian Sang Ryan, M. Pam’s When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson, The Voice of a Century is a captivating story book for children. The book is a narration about a great African –American Marian Anderson who loved singing and sang so wonderfully that everyone loved her singing. The story is told in a simplified way that matches the targeted audience and with a sombre mood. In short, the spirit of the book is to amplify the spirit of the African –Americans, and the legacy they left, which to Marian was as rich as her voice when singing.

Marian Anderson was born and brought up in a humble family, but her magnificence in singing made her talent recognised as she would sing in many city choirs. However, as the book illustrates, Marian was not lucky as troubles haunted her early in life. Her father died when she was only twelve years of age, and despite her singing talent, the Philadelphia Music Academy denied her a chance to prove her prowess in singing due to her race. All the same, her mother encouraged her to soldier on, and it was no until she saw a performance by the Metropolitan Opera of Madame Butterfly that her dream of singing shone again.

Despite being from a humble background, Marian made many tours in Europe and America where she was presented with great opportunities. The book is a non-fiction story told in utmost simplicity and depth of emotions to children between 3 and 8 years. The book offers many themes of learning to children on the need to be patient, courageous, have the perseverance to succeed in their talents especially at an early beginning. The inspiring part of a poor girl with a talent is a motivation to children not to give up in chasing their dreams despite their weak nature.

Through perseverance, children are called to hold on to what they believe. The book comes with illustrations that depict the young girl singing, which brings out the simplicity of the girl and appeals to the emotions of not only children but also the narrators of such a story. The illustrations also break the monotony of the text to present children with some space to reflect about the life of the young girl. Through the images of the young girl, children can connect the story to their lives, which makes the book a real motivation to children in pursuit of their talents early in life.

Throughout the book, the author utilised words that conveyed hope and motivation to children. For instance, when presenting the songs that Marian used to sing, the words used convey. Moreover, use of colour makes the book beautiful for the children to look at and break the boredom of black and white as used in typical textbooks. Some words have also been presented in a stylistic manner to convey the aspect of hope. For instance, "THIS NATION UNDER GOD SHALL HAVE A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM …" (26) was written in capital letters to stress there is hope for tomorrow and that such hope is brought about by a power beyond an individual.

Each page in the book contains fewer words than in conventional books and these spaces make each point clear and easy to read. The use of narrators creates a dialogue that makes reading the enter text interesting for children. The cover of the book is inspiring and attractive, and the illustrations of a girl singing as the title suggests creates some interests in children to learn about the songs of Marian and how she sang. Such a catchy cover might have attracted many kids to buy the book to learn about the best of Marian’s songs.

Sine many children have heard about the story of young Marian, book cover and the illustrations indicated makes the book easy to recognise, suggesting that children will recognise it once they spot it. This makes the book have a ready market. This book can be compared to Mark Twains Advice to Little Girls, which presents illustrations and short texts of what good little girls ought and ought not to do. It is a book that teaches about values and morals while the book When Marian sang teaches about courage, patience, perseverance and hope.

Ryan, M Pam and Selznick BrianWhen Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian AndersonThe best companion for your child’s learning and developmentDo you want your child to develop hope, courage, perseverance and values? Grab a copy for him /herWork CitedRyan, M. Pam and Selznick Brian. When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson. NY: Scholastic Press, 2002.