Saxophone Sits Alone

This is a marvelous book highlighting the instruments from the brass, string, woodwind and precession groups – all acting as personified personalities prohibiting the saxophone from playing with them, because it looks different. Author Jay C. Peterson has finely tuned a story exemplifying the absurdity of judging people (albeit instruments in this case) on how they look. Saxophone Sits Alone is a must-read book for all children – especially given the culture shock of the current political climate when many are using challenging terms including racism and xenophobia.

On the surface this is a wonderfully constructed children’s story. The artwork and illustrations are over-the-top creative, and the sounds of the instruments jump off the page with the musical scripture highlighted. The sad and exiled saxophone has a feminine frailty, with nothing but good intentions and an inability to figure out why all of the other instruments are being mean to her. The saxophone has a reed, levers, a bell and is made of brass – similar qualities to other instruments, yet she looks different and is bullied away. Sadly, she retreats and cries, when the piano says her, “Why are you crying?” As the saxophone explains her dilemma, the piano also confesses that he has faced the same problems. The piano has strings, but doesn’t fit in with the string instruments due to having keys and foot pedals, and a different size than all of the others.

So, eventually the saxophone and the piano decide to play together, forming a duet of unique sounds. That is when the other instruments take notice. Surely one-by-one, each of the others join in until the room is filled with amazing sounds. The moral of the story emerges in that it is the differences in instruments which give the variety of sounds. If every instrument looked the same, you couldn’t achieve the depth of music and the diversity of all of the sounds. Looking different is a good thing.

With a perfect storyline, excellent artwork and a timely moral, Saxophone Sits Alone by author Jay C. Peterson tops the chart in all categories. Plus, the added education of showing each of the various instruments, again personified with their personalities, teaches so much to youngsters about the differences - and similarities - of each of the groups of instruments. I thought when reading this electronic version of the book, how wonderful it would be to have an attached sound file synced to the various pages, bringing in an audible element to the book which cannot be done in the printed version alone.

This book is an excellent work for all children to read, or have it read to them by parents, and explain how wonderful the saxophone is, and how its unique sound adds so much to the other brass, strings, percussion, woodwind instruments. It would be impossible to make the type of music, so characteristic of this amazing instrument, without including it in the band. I highly recommend this book.

- Pacific Book Review