Song after song The musical life of Julie Andrews

The healing power of a kind teacher is central to this tale of Julie Andrews' life and work. During Julie's childhood in an English village, her mother often worked away from home as a pianist, but Julie's loving, caring father "whistled, hummed, and sang as he cooked, cleaned, and cared for Julie and her brother, Johnny." During the Blitz, however, Julie's mother took the children to live in London with a new partner, Ted, making Julie miss her father terribly. Ted, a singer, helped comfort his family by singing in the London Underground as they "heard the staccato sound of bombs dropping on the streets," and taught Julie to sing, but she didn't enjoy her gift until a famed, compassionate singer, Lilian Stiles-Allen, took over her lessons and coached "little Julie" to fame. Children who struggle to find joy in a gift or those facing difficult home lives are a great audience for this title that's lovingly illustrated with lively, vintage-looking watercolors. Pair this with picture books about Dolly Parton for a storytime on resilience through music.

"Julia Elizabeth Wells was born into a melody -- her childhood attuned to the timbre of the tiny English village where she heard music in the rhythm of the river, in the whistle of the wind, in the symphony of songbirds." This lyrical picture-book biography focuses on the challenges and successes of Andrews's early life. When her concert-pianist mother remarried and moved to London during WWII, Julie was summoned to join her and had a difficult time adjusting to life in a large city under constant threat of bombs. But her stepfather, also a musician, discovered her gift of a voice, paid for singing lessons, and promoted her career. Julie became successful so quickly that she performed for the queen while still a child. The book concludes with a brief summary of Andrews's accomplishments as an actor and author of children's books; in an appended author's note, Hedlund describes her personal connection to her subject. Soft-hued illustrations ranging from a series of small vignettes to double-page spreads reveal setting, action, emotion, and personality, complementing the alliterative text, which is full of musical references. The case cover offers a surprise: an illustration of young Julie by the river, with Mary Poppins reflected in the water. Back matter includes a timeline (but no source notes). Christina DorrSeptember/October 2023 p.95 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A lyrical salute to legendary singer Julie Andrews. Hedlund begins with Andrews' early years listening to her distant mother's first husband (biologically not her father, though that's what he's called here throughout) reading aloud, "his voice wrapped around the house like a hug." The author then chronicles young Julie's parents' divorce and her unwilling move to London during the Blitz, life-changing voice lessons with a renowned teacher, and rise to stardom from first appearances on vaudeville stages (where the sound of "accolades of audiences filled her heart") to a command performance at 13 before the queen, her singing "underscored by the hum of her father's love." The tale then cuts abruptly to a closing montage that fast-forwards seven decades, during which the performer and later writer "wrapped her voice around the world like a hug," to a closing personal note from the author. In Urbinati's watercolor-style illustrations, a slender child poses theatrically at various ages in a lyrical flow of private and public moments enhanced with evocative sprays of pearls and flowers. Faces are white throughout until final glimpses of the grande dame with a diverse group of modern young fans. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Sketchy and rhapsodic but at least affords glimpses of influential figures and formative experiences. (timeline) (Picture-book biography. 6-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.