Sylvie and the Songman - Hardcover

Binding, Tim

3.49

201 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385751575 ISBN 13: 9780385751575

Publisher: David Fickling Books, 2009

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A compelling story full of magic and music.

Sylvie Bartram lives alone with Mr. Jackson the dog and her eccentric composer father, who invents strange and wonderful musical instruments. One day she returns from school to find a message left in toothpaste on the bathroom mirror: her father has been kidnapped. Later that night, the house is visited by a terrifying apparition—a half-man, half-creature who is searching for something and will not rest until he has found it. . . .

Sylvie uncovers an underground world of magic and evil, and with help from her friends, she must hold off a power that threatens the lives of all beings in the world. The Songman is at large, and is determined to steal music and use it for his own evil ends. . . .

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About the Author:

Tim Binding is a former editor at Penguin Books in London. He is a part-time commissioning editor at London publishers Simon & Schuster, and has had four highly praised adult novels published. This is his first book for children. He lives in Kent, United Kingdom.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4–6—In this powerfully written fantasy, Sylvie, whose mother drowned a year ago, becomes concerned when strange events begin to happen. First, her beloved dog, Mr Jackson, loses his voice. Then, a note from one of her father's musical instruments causes an explosion. As she begins to notice that the usual animal sounds have vanished, her father, a musician and composer, disappears; a frightening man appears at her house; and a fox she sees each morning is no longer there. The sense of menace grows alarmingly when the terrifying Woodpecker Man attacks the house with Sylvie and her friend George inside. They figure out that he works for the Songman, whose plan is to capture and hold captive all the world's songs. The friends embark on a dangerous adventure to find Sylvie's father and save the world from the fate of silence. Binding has created rich and interesting characters in Sylvie's friend George, her dog, and the fox that bites Sylvie's hand, giving her the power to understand the language and thoughts of animals. Sylvie herself is a likable and spunky character, even if she is a little too self-sufficient to be entirely believable. While the action lags a little in some sections, Binding's rich language and multisensory descriptions of the world of animals are absorbing, and Sylvie's terror at discovering that she has enemies all around her will have readers on the edge of their seats.—Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City END

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