Little Rat Makes Music (review)

She's been a sailor (Little Rat Sets Sail, BCCB 5/02) and a rider (Little Rat Rides, 4/04), and now Little Rat is following her own muse, appropriately enough, in music. Though she's initially daunted to discover that playing the violin isn't as easy as it looks, she gradually develops proficiency, blossoming under the additional tutelage of an older student, with whom she eventually publicly performs a duet that finally sounds to Little Rat like the beautiful music that beckoned her to the instrument. Our protagonist has by now become the poster rat for the struggles of novices in any pastime, yet each experience is a little different, with her main demon here that of many youngsters: practice. This title is particularly good at documenting the frustrating incrementalism of skills acquisition, and the extent of Little Rat's exasperation ("Tantrums are not music," says her mother firmly. "They hurt our ears") is authentic; there's still room for humor, though (Little Rat's mid-lesson fart will, for some readers, be the high point of the book). Bang recreates her tidy, colorful, and deeply anthropomorphized animal world (while the sartorial rules remain somewhat nebulous, it's still a kick to see Mama Rat out in nothing but earrings and smart Mary Janes), adding nifty ratty touches such as a bust of the Rats' favorite composer (Mozrat, of course) and imaginative interpretations of Little Rat's struggles. Young musicians will especially appreciate this understanding treatment of their conflicted joys, while Little Rat fans will just be glad to see their heroine out, about, and achieving.