The Horn Book Guide

BIOGRAPHIES

Ryan, Pam Munoz

When Marian Sang

40 pp. | Scholastic | October, 2002 | Trade ISBN 0-439-26967-9 $$16.95

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Brian Selznick. This picture-book biography of the American contralto indulges in mythification (although the keynote of the Anderson myth--being kept out of Constitution Hall by the D.A.R.--is here muted), but Marian Anderson's career was significant in both musical and social terms, and Ryan and Selznick get this right. Throughout both the large double-page spreads and text there's an intimacy of tone that gives life to the legend.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2002