Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad

written by James Rumford

© 2008. New York, New York. Roaring Book Press. Realist Fiction.
Lexile Measure: AD830L
Picture Book. Diverse Protagonist. 

Ali likes to play soccer with his friends and listening to loud music, but most of all, he loves writing in calligraphy. He loves the silent music of his pen as it stokes the page and helps to drown out the noise of the war that is happening around him.

I would give this book a 30/32 and here's why. The book had wonderful illustrations that feature calligraphy in Arabic. The book is representative of a boy who lives in Baghdad making this book diverse, and in a positive way. The story line is well-constructed , and though there wasn't a whole lot of character development, it still is a great story. This book is so relevant today, and in times when we often hear negative things about the Middle East, this book gives us a glimpse into the life of a boy who lives there and who is effected by the war. This can help children to understand the impact that war can have on people and children, whether its people in our own country, or people in the country who we may be at odds with. 
It was brought to my attention that the boys name in the book would really be Muhammad Ali, and that this was left out of the book (He says his name is Ali). This may have been to take out the any religious affiliations in the book in order to focus on the boys experiences, rather than what religion he belongs to. Other than this, the book is credible and shares a wonderful story that can help students to understand how other parts of the world are being impacted by violence, and how this impacts kids too.

I would recommend this book to children in 1st through 5th grade.
  Here are some literary elements to consider teaching:

Title and Subtitle: Use this book to help students understand title and subtitle as a part of some books, while some books may only contain a title. Use this books as well as other books to determine if books have a subtitle and a title. 

Setting: This book has a clear setting. Have students describe the setting of Baghdad by the pictures and descriptions in the book.

First Person Point of View: This story is told in the first person point of view. Ali tells that story of his life himself and uses "I" as he tells the story. 
Mini-lesson in first person point of view: Tell students that this story is in first person point of view, and then have them listen to the story to find out why. After reading the book, see if any students can determine why this book would be considered to be written in first-person point of view. Have students identify other texts with first person point of view.

Social Justice Theme: Violence/war