In a brilliant performance worthy of the composer, M. T. Anderson and Petra Mathers present a picture-book biography of the singular Erik Satie.
Throughout his life, Erik Satie wanted to make a new kind of music, a kind of music both very young and very old, very bold and very shy, that followed no rules but its own.
At first glance, Erik Satie looked as normal as anyone else in Paris one hundred years ago. Beyond his shy smile, however, was a mind like no other. When Satie sat down at the piano to compose or play music, his tunes were strange and dreamlike, his melodies topsy-turvy and discordant. Many people hated his music. Few understood it. But to Erik Satie there was sense in nonsense, and the vibrant, surreal compositions of this eccentric man-child would go on to influence many artists.
M. T. Anderson is the author of Feed,a National Book Award Finalist; the National Book Award winner The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party and Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves, which were both Michael L. Printz Honor Books; Symphony for the City of the Dead; Yvain: The Night of the Lion; Landscape with Invisible Hand;and many other books for children and young adults, including The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge, cocreated with Eugene Yelchin, which was a National Book Award Finalist. M. T. Anderson lives near Boston, Massachusetts.
Petra Mathers (1945-2024) said, “Even though he walked everywhere he went, Satie was never a pedestrian; he was always a little aloft.” Petra Mathers wrote and/or illustrated more than thirty books for children, four of which won New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books honors. Her first book, Maria Theresa, was awarded the Ezra Jack Keats Medal.
Anderson makes a music of his own with words. — Washington Post
An irresistible invitation to discover a relatively little known, but profoundly influential 20th century artist. — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Like Satie’s repetitive, slowly advancing musical passages, Anderson’s words flow naturally and hypnotize the reader with oceanic rhythms. . . . Both author and illustrator seem to have channeled Satie’s spirit of risk-taking in their verbal and visual depictions of the composer’s artistry. — Horn Book (starred review)
The details of Satie’s strange life will puzzle and intrigue youngsters. The interpretations of Satie’s absurdist musical pieces and guidelines are faithfully literal yet spiritedly surreal. — The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
A splendid alliance of topic, text, and illustration produces a hauntingly compelling biography. — School Library Journal
In a brilliant performance worthy of the composer, M. T. Anderson and Petra Mathers present a picture-book biography of the singular Erik Satie.
Throughout his life, Erik Satie wanted to make a new kind of music, a kind of music both very young and very old, very bold and very shy, that followed no rules but its own.
At first glance, Erik Satie looked as normal as anyone else in Paris one hundred years ago. Beyond his shy smile, however, was a mind like no other. When Satie sat down at the piano to compose or play music, his tunes were strange and dreamlike, his melodies topsy-turvy and discordant. Many people hated his music. Few understood it. But to Erik Satie there was sense in nonsense, and the vibrant, surreal compositions of this eccentric man-child would go on to influence many artists.
Creators
M. T. Anderson is the author of Feed,a National Book Award Finalist; the National Book Award winner The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party and Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves, which were both Michael L. Printz Honor Books; Symphony for the City of the Dead; Yvain: The Night of the Lion; Landscape with Invisible Hand;and many other books for children and young adults, including The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge, cocreated with Eugene Yelchin, which was a National Book Award Finalist. M. T. Anderson lives near Boston, Massachusetts.
Petra Mathers (1945-2024) said, “Even though he walked everywhere he went, Satie was never a pedestrian; he was always a little aloft.” Petra Mathers wrote and/or illustrated more than thirty books for children, four of which won New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books honors. Her first book, Maria Theresa, was awarded the Ezra Jack Keats Medal.
Anderson makes a music of his own with words. — Washington Post
An irresistible invitation to discover a relatively little known, but profoundly influential 20th century artist. — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Like Satie’s repetitive, slowly advancing musical passages, Anderson’s words flow naturally and hypnotize the reader with oceanic rhythms. . . . Both author and illustrator seem to have channeled Satie’s spirit of risk-taking in their verbal and visual depictions of the composer’s artistry. — Horn Book (starred review)
The details of Satie’s strange life will puzzle and intrigue youngsters. The interpretations of Satie’s absurdist musical pieces and guidelines are faithfully literal yet spiritedly surreal. — The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
A splendid alliance of topic, text, and illustration produces a hauntingly compelling biography. — School Library Journal
