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In a ravaged, war-torn city, where heat must come from burning furniture and even cherished books, where even the relief truck is destroyed by enemy fire, how can people find hope? In this powerfully evocative picture book, one little girl discovers the answer.

Mr. O is a crotchety old man. The heroine of this story and her friends like to tease him--they run in the halls, making noise, and... More

In a ravaged, war-torn city, where heat must come from burning furniture and even cherished books, where even the relief truck is destroyed by enemy fire, how can people find hope? In this powerfully evocative picture book, one little girl discovers the answer.

Mr. O is a crotchety old man. The heroine of this story and her friends like to tease him--they run in the halls, making noise, and they pop paper bags outside his door. But every Wednesday afternoon, when the relief truck used to bring flour and other staples, Mr. O marches into the square, sits down, and begins to play his cello. It's not until the Wednesday when a bomb again hits the square that the little girl realizes what Mr. O has been trying to teach them all: that music--and courage--can sustain the spirit just as bread sustains the body.

Jane Cutler has created a poignant tribute to the unnamed city of Sarajevo in a story that celebrates the kinship between generations. Greg Couch's timeless illustrations, abstract in form yet piercingly beautiful in the emotions they capture, portray at once the tragedy of war and the power of human dignity.

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