Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion
Written by Shannon Stocker
Illustrated by Devon Holzwarth
Dial Books for Young Readers, 2022, 40 pp (unpaged)
ISBN: 978-0593109694

Listen is a nonfiction picturebook that shares the inspiring story of a talented Scottish girl, Evelyn Glennie, an exceptional percussionist who loses her hearing ability as a young child. Despite facing disability and detractors, she remains determined, refusing to let anything hinder her from achieving her musical goal. Through her determination and the support of her parents and teacher, Mr. Forbes, she learns to perceive sound differently by feeling the sound vibrations in her body. Listen avoids romanticizing deafness or portraying the loss of typical hearing experiences. It shows a battle, joy and persistence to feel the world differently. Despite prevailing skepticism about the musical abilities of deaf individuals, Evelyn shattered stereotypes and became a beacon of change for people with disabilities. Through her pursuit, music schools in Great Britain revised their policies to embrace individuals with disabilities. Her achievements are extraordinary, including becoming the first deaf student at the Royal Academy of Music in London, becoming the world’s first full-time solo percussionist, and winning a Grammy Award.

Shannon Stocker, author of the book, beautifully depicts the story of Evelyn Glennie’s musical journey from her joyful moments playing the piano and clarinet as a young girl to her deep connection with music in all its forms. Stocker’s note in the book provides additional insight into Evelyn’s life by quoting her words: “Create your own story… you must make your own opportunities.” Evelyn found a sea of sound that belonged only to her.

The words and illustrations in Listen create a wonderfully immersive experience, evoking the poetic essence of music with stunning visual emphasis. Author Shannon Stocker and illustrator Devon Holzwarth cleverly represent sound using words like “WHUM!” and “WAH-WAH-WAHHHH,” making the auditory experience more vivid for readers.

Several themes from other books can be paired with Listen. The award-winning graphic novel El Deafo is a graphic autobiography of the author, Cece Bell (2014), who grew up deaf in the 1970s. Also, the theme of disability can be found in Henry Like Always by Jenn Bailey and Mika Song (2023), a story of a young boy with autism grappling with changes in school routines. Playground Lessons–Friendship and Forgiveness: Harley and His Wheelchair (Brent Poppen, 2012) is another book that explores the author’s own experiences and emotions as a quadriplegic.

One particularly powerful picturebook pair that encourages childhood aspirations is The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Emily Winfield Martin (2015). This picturebook honors the limitless possibilities within children and encourages them to aspire to great dreams. Supportive teachers is also a theme with Thank you, Mr.Falker by Patricia Polacco (1998) as a good match. The story is about a girl with dyslexia and a teacher who encourages her to believe in herself and overcome her disability. This book is also based on the author’s own experience in school.

Shannon Stocker, an award-winning children’s author, in an interview with Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez shared, “I have a disability. My son has ADHD, and my daughter has brain cancer. These kids deserve to see themselves in books, too.” In January 2019 she attended a conference where the message was “Write what you know.” Stocker realized she could draw from personal experiences, so researching musicians with disabilities led the author to Evelyn, whose story captivated her. Stocker is also the author of the picturebook Can U Save the Day?, illustrated by Tom Disbury (2019), an alphabet book with bullying, friendship, and forgiveness themes. She also wrote Together We Can (2021), an eight-book early reader series on healthy living in a pandemic, and Warrior: A Patient’s Courageous Quest illustrated by Sarah Turner (2023), a story of a brave girl who prepares herself to fight a monster in a dangerous land. This story is for children battling cancer, their own monsters. More information about Shannon Stocker and her books can be found on her website.

Devon Holzwarth is a picturebook illustrator, painter, and author. She is a recipient of the Schneider Family Book Award for Listen, and a notable Sydney Taylor Award for Tia Fortuna’s New Home, illustrated by Ruth Behar (2022). She was born in Washington D.C but grew up in Panama where she was surrounded by beautiful nature and her father’s art materials. She has illustrated several picturebooks including Everywhere With You illustrated by Carlie Sorosiak (2022), The Story of a Book illustrated by Joy McCullough (2023), All that is You illustrated by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (2022), and Papa, Daddy, & Riley illustrated by Seamus Kirst (2020). Information about her books and illustrations can be found on her website.

Rana Taheri, Montana State University

© 2024 by Rana Taheri

WOW Review, Volume XVI, Issue 3 by Worlds of Words is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Based on work by Rana Taheri at https://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/review/xvi-3/5/

WOW review: reading across cultures
ISSN 2577-0527