About this item

From award-winning author Susan Hood and illustrator Sally Wern Comport comes the extraordinary true tale of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay, an orchestra made up of children playing instruments built from recycled trash.Ada Ros grew up in Cateura, a small town in Paraguay built on a landfill. She dreamed of playing the violin, but with little money for anything but the bare essentials, it was never an option...until a music teacher named Favio Chvez arrived. He wanted to give the children of Cateura something special, so he made them instruments out of materials found in the trash. It was a crazy idea, but one that would leave Ada - and her town - forever changed. Now, the Recycled Orchestra plays venues around the world, spreading their message of hope and innovation.



About the Author

Susan Hood

Brand-new for 2017 is DOUBLE TAKE: A NEW LOOK AT OPPOSITES, illustrated by Jay Fleck and published by Candlewick. This topsy-turvy rhyming concept book explodes the notion of simple opposites by introducing relative terms and perspective, showing kids how point of view can affect what you see. "A powerful and timely message," says School Library Journal. "Highly recommended."

2016 was a busy year with four new picture books, starting with LEAPS AND BOUNCE, illustrated by Matthew Cordell (Hyperion) . Kirkus Reviews said, "The life cycle of a frog becomes a joyful, energetic celebration of growing up." Named a Bank Street Best Book of the Year.

Susan's first nonfiction picture book - ADA'S VIOLIN: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay - won the Bank Street Flora Steiglitz Straus Award for distinguished nonfiction; received the Christopher Medal; and was named an E.B. White Picture Book Award honoree. Illustrated by Sally Wern Comport, this is the extraordinary true tale of children living on a garbage dump in one of the poorest slums in South America and the man who saved them by creating musical instruments from the trash. Profiled on 60 Minutes, the children formed an orchestra and are now performing around the world! In a starred review, School Library Journal called the book "a virtuoso piece of nonfiction, gloriously told and illustrated." Available from Simon and Schuster in both English and Spanish editions.

MISSION: BACK TO SCHOOL, illustrated in adorable watercolors by Mary Lundquist and
published by Random House, received a starred review in Kirkus and was named a Bank Street Best Book of the Year.

THE FIX-IT MAN with illustrations from Arree Chung of NINJA fame (HarperCollins) is perfect for young builders, tinkerers and inventors and fans of MakerSpaces.

Looking ahead, January, 2018 brings a new nonfiction picture book from HarperCollins and in the fall, Susan's first middle grade novel to be published by Simon and Schuster. For more information, check Susan's website:
susanhoodbooks.com.



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