POTATO MUSIC

Christina Booth

Omnibus Books

Illustrated by Pete Groves

Luminous, lyrical, soul-warming, heart-gladdening.

The colour of music dances from the piano keys to Mama’s fingers and twirls out into the front room. ‘It helps keep our dreams and hopes alive,’ says Pa, as he dances me off to bed on his shoes.

War comes but the music doesn’t cease. Pa dances ever more slowly, however. Food grows scarce. The music goes on, covering the scream of planes overhead. Boots tramp by outside. Ma and Pa skip meals as food becomes an increasing rarity. Pa’s dance is slower still.

Then, one morning, the piano is gone and a sack of potatoes is in its place. I feel the colour leave me as Pa holds me close.

Yet the music remains—still alive in the hearts and dreams of the family.

Sensitively told with fetching, lustrous illustrations, the story soars with hope and love. The quiet sacrifice of the parents, the looming darkness as war encroaches, the devoted almost idyllic affection expressed within the family, the resilience of the human heart when surrounded by tenderness and warmth—all of these force the darkness to recede and wrap the story in light and music.