Marvin Makes Music (review)

The late composer Hamlisch leaves as a parting gift to young readers this memoir of his childhood experiences in music-making—falling in love with music and the piano, but pushing back against the rigors of practicing and a pedagogy based on classical works. Marvin's rebellion, in fact, will probably sound pretty familiar to many children who are just taking up an instrument: "Why couldn't he just play his own songs and have fun?" But Dad keeps the pressure on and arranges for Marvin to audition for "one of the best music schools in the city." It's that Juilliard audition itself that provides the real kid appeal of Hamlisch's tale, as father and son get themselves locked outside on the school's rooftop, and the judges break into laughter at the yellow pajama bottoms that creep out from under the pant legs of Marvin's scratchy new suit. There's not a lot of autobiographical literature available for the picture-book crowd, and Hamlisch's breezy narration strikes the right balance between goofy family story and gentle message on the virtue of disciplined study. No date-and-place biographical data is included, but Madsen's caricatured paintings, slyly suggestive of a 1950s sitcom, set the audience into young Marvin's New York milieu. A music CD will be included with the final copy.