Cassie Loves Beethoven

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Never has music wrought more profound change than in this engaging bucolic tale from the author of Some Fine Grampa! (1995). Hallie and David Kennedy's new cow Cassie won't give milk. Even the vet doesn't know what to do, but retired librarian Vivian Keats, who always does, suggests playing music. The young folks' father, Myles, hauls out his short-wave radio (this is Cape Breton Island, where the airwaves carry limited musical choices), and tunes in to a classical station. The results are as unexpected as they are immediate. Cassie begins to talk, and not just in monosyllables either: after hearing Beethoven's "Pastoral" symphony, she rhapsodizes, " 'How does he feel so much? And then once he feels these things, how does he make us feel along with him? How does he make sound tell us about open fields and green grass and hills and trees and streams and thunder and lightning?' " And so on. In fact, Cassie becomes insufferable on the subject, urgently questioning her human associates, demanding to hear live music, and then to play it herself. But what instrument can a cow play? After much experimentation, the Kennedys, patiently putting up with Cassie's sulks and rages, concoct a giant keyboard from plastic tarps and electrical wires, and even find music teachers for their budding artiste. Weeks of dedicated practice later, Cassie is ready for her public debut. Her performance of an obscure Beethoven rondo at the local high school is a smash hit, earning her an invitation to play with a professional orchestra in a real concert hall. That too is a triumph—until the crushing review appears in the next morning's paper. Arkin plays the "prima donna" trope with a sure hand and hilarious results, but his bovine protagonist is saved from caricature by the evident depth and sincerity of her response to music. Whether readers' acquaintance with great music is intimate or just nodding, this epiphanic episode is sure to incite laughter and deeper thoughts.

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