Simeon's Gift (Julie Andrews Collection Series)

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Convinced that his "lowly status" and the "simplicity of his art" will never provide more than a "meager existence" for his beloved, minstrel Simeon sets out on a fairy tale-like quest to free the music "deep in his soul." He encounters a veritable symphony of new sounds on his pilgrimage--the insistent beat of soldiers' drums, the harmonic chanting of monks, the general cacophony of a big city--but sadly, this barrage of new sounds bewilders and overwhelms Simeon, who feels his own attempts at song suffer in comparison. Lonely and weary, he abandons his quest and trades his lute for a canoe to take him home. On the way, Simeon befriends a bright little bird, a beautiful fish, and lovely fawn who become his companions. Heartened by his new friends and overjoyed to see his beloved Sorrel, Simeon breaks into song and discovers the music of his soul.

Julie Andrews Edwards, author of The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles and star of Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, has teamed up again with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton (Dumpy the Dumptruck, etc.), for an original story with all the elements of traditional fairy tales. Award-winning illustrator Gennady Spirin creates magical pictures that hearken back to Renaissance era artists. Also includes a reading by the charming Julie Andrews Edwards. (Ages 5 to 8) --Emilie Coulter


From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5-Simeon, a humble musician living in the days of knights and castles, ekes out a meager living entertaining others. He is in love with a "beautiful lady of noble birth," but feels unworthy since he can't offer her a satisfactory standard of living. He ventures into the greater world in search of inspiration that "-might be able to free the music he was certain lay deep in his soul" and turn him into a composer rather than merely a performer. In his wanderings, he appreciates the cadences of soldiers, monks, and poets along with nature and city sounds. However, all of these influences put Simeon into a kind of sensory overload and he longs to return to his beloved. On the river trip home, the young man befriends a bird, a fish, and a fawn. Their friendship, along with the sounds of the creatures and the river, prompts Simeon to make sweet music. He arrives home a reinvigorated man and is welcomed into the loving arms of his lady. Predictably, he goes on to enjoy great success as a musician and composer. The illustrator's ornate, gorgeous watercolors add substance to a purposeful tale. Although the authors incorporate traditional fairy-tale elements, including a love story, a journey, and a quest, the narrative conveys a kind of New Age self-realization sensibility that rings false. A CD of Edwards narrating the story comes with the book.Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CACopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
CD included with a reading by Julie Andrews Edwards

In a faraway time and place, a humble musician named Simeon sets out on a quest. Thirsting for knowledge and eager to improve his craft, he risks losing all that is important to him, including the love of his beautiful Sorrel.

The journey brings many discoveries, and though he tries hard to absorb the vast new tapestry of sounds and ideas before him, the scope of choices eventually becomes overwhelming.

Dispirited, he turns for home -- and alone in the grace of nature, he experiences a series of wondrous events that lead him to the discovery of his own true self, and the glorious gift he has to offer.

ANNOTATION

A humble musician sets out to find the perfect gift for the woman he loves and is overwhelmed by all he sees, until he discovers within himself his true gift.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In a faraway time and place, a humble musician named Simeon sets out on a quest. Thirsting for knowledge and eager to improve his craft, he risks losing all that is important to him, including the love of his beautiful Sorrel.

The journey brings many discoveries, and though he tries hard to absorb the vast new tapestry of sounds and ideas before him, the scope of choices eventually becomes overwhelming.

Dispirited, he turns for home -- and alone in the grace of nature, he experiences a series of wondrous events that lead him to the discovery of his own true self, and the glorious gift he has to offer.

Julie Andrews Edwards and Emma Walton Hamilton -- with stunning illustrations from Gennady Spirin -- weave a magical tale with a timeless lesson about beauty, music, and the power of giving.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

While celebrity power and the packaged CD of the famed entertainer reading the text may spur sales for this book, it is Spirin's (The Tale of the Firebird) work that merits the kudos. Paying homage to the Italian Renaissance, his watercolors are simply exquisite, as is the book design. Set like jewels on a thin necklace of gold lines, oval details of larger paintings border the text. Other pages feature lush landscapes with the text centered on a white moon of space, with the reverse layout (circular image on white ground) opposite on the right. However, the story is fairly pedestrian. Simeon, a penniless lute-player, leaves his noble ladylove because he wants "to free the music he was certain lay deep in his soul." When he returns, he brings her a quasi-magical fish, bird and fawn, as well as a song he has composed himself. Unfortunately, the mother-daughter team (the Dumpy the Dump Truck series) never develops a music of its own. The text is a pastiche of abstractions about a character with a "heavy heart," despondent because he is so "overwhelmed and unable to make sense of the discord in his head." As a result, Simeon often seems more like a sighing medieval slacker in search of focus than a hero, and makes the ending moral-"that a true and brave heart can find a way, if it will only trust in all the wonders under God's canopy"-seem hollow. Ages 5-9. (Oct.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Karen Leggett

What a gentle, elegant tale of passion and generosity of spirit. Simeon is a poor and uneducated musician. We never know exactly where he lives, but the Gennady Spirin's exquisitely detailed and delicately painted illustrations suggest the Italian countryside during the Renaissance. Simeon decides to travel far and wide to "hear new sounds, new rhythms, new voices so that he might be able to free the music he was certain lay deep in his soul." As Simeon travels to new and unfamiliar cities, children will hear new and unfamiliar words like "cacophony" and "resonant chords," but the meaning will be clear from context and an enthusiastic interpretation by an adult reader. The book is indeed perfect for reading aloud, as Julie Andrews herself demonstrates on the enclosed CD. During his travels, Simeon befriends a bird, a fawn and a fish but returns home to his beloved Sorrel without even his lute, which he had traded for a canoe. But in the end, on a page bursting with streamers and tiny flowers, angels, butterflies and musical instruments, Simeon has learned that "a true and brave heart can find a way, if it will only trust in all the wonders under God's canopy." The new Julie Andrews Collection promises "books for young readers of all ages that nurture the imagination and celebrate a sense of wonder." Simeon's Gift fulfills the promise. 2003, HarperCollins, Ages 5 up.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-5-Simeon, a humble musician living in the days of knights and castles, ekes out a meager living entertaining others. He is in love with a "beautiful lady of noble birth," but feels unworthy since he can't offer her a satisfactory standard of living. He ventures into the greater world in search of inspiration that "-might be able to free the music he was certain lay deep in his soul" and turn him into a composer rather than merely a performer. In his wanderings, he appreciates the cadences of soldiers, monks, and poets along with nature and city sounds. However, all of these influences put Simeon into a kind of sensory overload and he longs to return to his beloved. On the river trip home, the young man befriends a bird, a fish, and a fawn. Their friendship, along with the sounds of the creatures and the river, prompts Simeon to make sweet music. He arrives home a reinvigorated man and is welcomed into the loving arms of his lady. Predictably, he goes on to enjoy great success as a musician and composer. The illustrator's ornate, gorgeous watercolors add substance to a purposeful tale. Although the authors incorporate traditional fairy-tale elements, including a love story, a journey, and a quest, the narrative conveys a kind of New Age self-realization sensibility that rings false. A CD of Edwards narrating the story comes with the book.-Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews