Brundibar

From the legendary imagination of Maurice Sendak--creator of beloved classic Where the Wild Things Are--comes a classic tale of children cleverly overcoming a bully, retold by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner.

Brundibar is based on a 1938 Czech opera for children that was performed fifty-five times by the children of Terezin, the Nazi concentration camp. When Aninku and Pepicek discover one morning that their mother is sick, they rush to town for milk to make her better. Their attempt to earn money by singing is thwarted by a bullying, bellowing hurdy-gurdy grinder, Brundibar, who tyrannizes the town square and chases all other street musicians away. Befriended by three intelligent talking animals and three hundred helpful schoolkids, brother and sister sing for the money to buy the milk, defeat the bully, and triumphantly return home.

"An ambitious picture book that succeeds both as a simple children's story and as a compelling statement against tyranny." --School Library Journal

Author: Tony Kushner
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Published: 11/01/2003
Pages: 56
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.35lbs
Size: 8.60h x 11.00w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780786809042
Audience: Ages 4-8

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 3.4
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Lower Grade
Quiz #/Name: 75973 / Brundibar


Award: Sydney Taylor Book Award - Notable
Award: Parents Choice Award (Fall) (1998-2007) - Winner


Review Citation(s):
BookPage 10/01/2003 pg. 30
Publishers Weekly 11/03/2003 pg. 72
Kirkus Review - Children 11/01/2003 pg. 1312
Kirkus Review - Children 12/01/2003 pg. 1404
Booklist 11/15/2003 pg. 602
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 12/01/2003 pg. 155
Horn Book Magazine 01/01/2004 pg. 69
School Library Journal 12/01/2003 pg. 118
New York Times 11/16/2003 pg. 22
Voice of Youth Advocates 04/01/2004 pg. 48
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2003 pg. 48 - Superior,Well Above Average
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2004 pg. 48 - Superior,Well Above Average

About the Author
Tony Kushner's plays include "A Bright Room Called Day"; "The Illusion"; "Angels In America, Parts One and Two"; "Slavs!"; "Hydrotaphia"; "Homebody/Kabul"; and adaptations of Goethe's "Stella", Brecht's "The Good Person of Setzuan", and Ansky's "The Dybbuk". His work has been produced at theatres around the United States and in over thirty countries around the world. He is the recipient of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 1993 and 1994 Tony Awards for Best Play, among other awards.

Maurice Sendak (1928-2012) remains the most honored children's book artist in history. He received the 1964 Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild ThingsAre. In 1970 he received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Illustration, in 1983 he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association, and in 1996 he received a National Medal of Arts in recognition of his contribution to the arts in America. In March 2003, Sendak received the first Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an annual international prize for children's literature established by the Swedish government. His other works include In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy, Higglety Pigglety Pop!, and the Nutshell Library (consisting of Chicken Soup with Rice, Alligators All Around, One Was Johnny, and Pierre).