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Thor Hanson

Thor HansonThor HansonThor Hanson
Home
About
Books
  • Close to Home
  • Hurricane Lizards
  • Buzz
  • The Triumph of Seeds
  • Feathers
  • The Impenetrable Forest
Children's Books
  • The Escape Artist
  • Star and the Maestro
  • Bartholomew Quill
TV & Film
  • The UnBelievable
  • WIRED Biology Support
  • WIRED Currents
  • PBS NATURE Shorts
  • PBS American Spring Live
  • A Day Without Seeds
Events
Research
Contact
More
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Close to Home
    • Hurricane Lizards
    • Buzz
    • The Triumph of Seeds
    • Feathers
    • The Impenetrable Forest
  • Children's Books
    • The Escape Artist
    • Star and the Maestro
    • Bartholomew Quill
  • TV & Film
    • The UnBelievable
    • WIRED Biology Support
    • WIRED Currents
    • PBS NATURE Shorts
    • PBS American Spring Live
    • A Day Without Seeds
  • Events
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  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Close to Home
    • Hurricane Lizards
    • Buzz
    • The Triumph of Seeds
    • Feathers
    • The Impenetrable Forest
  • Children's Books
    • The Escape Artist
    • Star and the Maestro
    • Bartholomew Quill
  • TV & Film
    • The UnBelievable
    • WIRED Biology Support
    • WIRED Currents
    • PBS NATURE Shorts
    • PBS American Spring Live
    • A Day Without Seeds
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Cover of Star and the Maestro by Thor Hanson
Greenwillow Books (2024)

STAR AND THE MAESTRO

A long time ago in Vienna, a starling was for sale in a shop. Star wasn’t fancy or flashy, but he had a marvelous voice and could mimic complex songs. When a passerby recognized his own composition being chirped, Star found a new friend in Mozart. A true story told in rhythmic, rhyming text and beautiful illustrations.

AVAILABLE NOW FROM YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSELLERS

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Reviews

"Zeroes in on a delightful, quirky aspect of the famed composer’s life. . . . . whether or not readers know much about Mozart, they’ll enjoy seeing the ordinary bird triumph over the more vibrant and unusual 

specimens at the pet store."

— Kirkus


“Tackling music history via a bird’s-eye view, Hanson spotlights the pedigreed pet fad in the Vienna of Mozart. A common starling feels out of place in a shop. . . . But the bird’s skill at mimicry lands it a happy home—and a composition partner—when Mozart hears the starling repeat 17 notes from one of his own composition. . .  Accentuating contrast between light and shadow in digitally rendered  artwork, Schu threads the black of the starling’s feathers and golden  hue of its beak through each illustration, dramatically anchoring the palette” 

— Publishers Weekly


“Writing  in verse that rattles along with the lively speed of a Mozart piano  sonata, Hanson relates a true, if lightly embroidered, account of how the astonished composer heard a captive starling singing a phrase of his own music and so carried it away from a store for exotic pets back to his busy studio. . . . Notes on the historical encounter, the great composer, the common starling’s powers of mimicry, and related topics close this 

evocatively elegant, rhythmic commemoration.” 

— Booklist


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