Customer Reviews

The Magic Violin

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Mayra Calvani's picture book, "The Magic Violin" is a delightful story of dreams, wishes, magic, and believing in oneself. Melina's dream is to play the second movement of Vivaldi's "Winter" on her violin. But no matter how much she practices it doesn't sound right. Melina tells her teacher, Andrea, that the song is too hard, and she might as well quit.

Andrea encourages Melina, however, saying not to worry, she just needs a "magic dose of self-trust." Melina isn't sure how to go about getting self-trust. Then on a visit to the Grand Place, a plaza in the center of Brussels, Belgium, where Melina and her parents have gone to celebrate Christmas Eve, soft music floats through the air. An old woman, dressed in rags, is playing Vivaldi's "Winter" for coins. Melina feels sorry for the woman and as she hands her money, the woman tells her to make a wish that night on a shooting star, and it will come true.

Oh, no! I won't give away what happens next, except to say that Melina does wish on the star. Young readers will love the illustrations that complement the story. Many children will wish for a magic violin of their own. I know I do. After all, dreams sometimes come true. This is a lovely tale to snuggle with family and a cup of hot cocoa, in front of a cozy fire, on Christmas Eve.

The Magic Violin is a wonderful story about the belief in dreams and the importance of self esteem that leads us there. I recommend it to everyone.

J.D. Holiday

The book is about a 8 year old girl Melina and how she regains her confidence that she can indeed learn the violin through some stratagems of her wonderful teacher Andrea.

When Melina starts losing her self-confidence, Andrea disguises herself as an old woman and tells Melina that her violin will become magical. And the child trusts the old woman and regains her confidence, which is of course the real magic.

The story of course only hints at this stratagem of Andrea and thus the children who read the book will really enjoy the old woman, the hamster and the midnight magic so beautifully described in the short but sweet story.

The book is printed well, edited well and the illustrations are very appealing.

All in all, an excellent book for gifting to a child in this festive season.

Reviewed by Andrea Sisco

Melina yearns to be good at playing the violin. But it requires work, persistence and confidence. Melina is short on confidence and wants to quit.

Her kind and gentle teacher, Andrea, recognizes Melina's self-esteem problem and decides she needs some magic, which is delivered in the form of a mysterious old woman who gives Melina some interesting advice. But the delightful surprise is the Russian hamster living under the old woman's hat. He gives Melina an inspiring performance that fills her with hope on Christmas Eve.

But the questions are: Is Melina really playing better because she's inspired and has gained confidence, or is she in possession of a magic violin? And who is the old woman in the town square and why does she wear the same beautiful emerald ring as her violin teacher Andrea? "Could it be possible? Could Andrea and the old woman be the same person?"

I love children's books that inspire. And The Magic Violin inspires and entertains. The story is set in Belgium (where the author lives) and is sweet, well-written and zero's in on a huge problem with many children; self-esteem. The illustrations are all lovely but the cover captivates the reader's attention. It is so beautiful it could be framed.

Armchair Interviews says: The Magic Violin is a must read, must have for children. They'll be inspired by the story and the illustrations will delight them.

A keeper! For the child suffering through the early stages of learning to play an instrument, they will have instant empathy with Melina as she struggles to learn a piece for the violin. She enjoys her lessons and likes her teacher, but this music seems very difficult to play.

Discouraged, she doesn't think she'll ever learn to play it properly, even though her teacher is most encouraging. Will she overcome her frustration and get past this self-defeating attitude? A chance encounter on the street while looking at Christmas lights with an old woman who is playing a violin and her little friend changes things for Melina.

This is a story with a lesson that applies to us all as we try to learn anything new. Adults will identify with Melina and remember their own childhood struggles with learning anything new.

A delightful tale by talented author Mayra Calvani that children of all ages will enjoy and learn from. Nonreading children will love having this tale read to them and the reading child can read it themselves. Couched in easy language with matching artwork by talented artist K. C. Snider, children can enter Melina's world and see the world through her eyes. A highly enjoyable experience for parent and child alike. Highly recommended for children the world over. Adults too will enjoy this tale. I sure did.

An Important Lesson for Everyone

Review by Douglas Quinn, Author of Blue Heron Marsh, etal [www.douglasquinn.com]

and Donna Higgins Colson, Professional Artist [www.dhc-art.com]

The Magic Violin carries a necessary message and conveys an important lesson for everyone, no matter what discipline, whether child or adult. There is no easy path to what one wants to accomplish, in this case, the mastery of a musical instrument. Hard work and practice brings improvement. This reality is often a difficult concept for children to grasp.

We enjoyed the setting in Belgium, as it's also important that children learn about the world outside of their own area of personal experience. That said, while the introduction of the cute hamster under the old woman's hat was whimsical and fun, we didn't understand the hamster's purpose. Perhaps, if the hamster had been shown peeking out from behind the metronome in the illustration that appeared near the end on page 22, it would have worked better for us. Also, the way the story ended left us a little non-plussed. We believe that the message of the story needed to be reinforced at the end, rather than making the focal point the idea that the old woman and the child's violin instructor might be one in the same person.

As for the art, we felt the story and illustrations flowed well together. We found the cover illustration to be well done and delightful-magical, in fact. Which made the interior illustrations more of a disappointment, as they come across to the viewer as pleasant but somewhat wooden.

Overall, because of the important lesson it conveys, we would recommend The Magic Violin for the targeted 5 to 8 age range.

Eight-year-old Melina loves her violin lessons. But one day she grows frustrated and loses confidence in her ability to play. Her Romanian teacher, Andrea, encourages her not to give up. All she needs is a magic dose of self trust.

Melina's parents take her to the Grand Plaza in Brussels, Belgium where she meets a mysterious woman in rags who gives her curious advice, to wish on a shooting star and her wish will come true.

Melina wishes to have a magical violin that will help her play Vivaldi's "Winter." After that night she plays everyday until she learns the song by heart. She gains confidence and plays the song to Andrea, who asks if it really was the star that helped her or her own belief in herself.

This is a sweet tale about believing in yourself. Children who are learning to play an instrument will be empathic to Melina's frustration at not being perfect at playing the violin. I loved the illustrations that give the story an old time feel. Melina learns an important lesson about not giving up. This story is perfect to read to children who doubt themselves and feel they'll never be good at something.

MAGIC VIOLIN is the perfect Christmas gift for those who love to play the violin and for those who love a good tale.

The story confirms the age old adage "Practice Makes Perfect." The author did a wonderful job of describing a scene at the Grand Plaza in Brussels. You could almost smell the roasting chestnuts and mulled wine. The illustration depicting that scene, which is the cover of the book, is gorgeous. The cover of the book makes you want to open the book up and see the other illustrations. At first, I was a little disappointed in the rest of the illustrations; but upon second glance, I would say that their simplicity is very nice. The story is charming and any child who is trying to learn how to play a musical instrument can relate. In fact, I would highly recommend this book to that child. It strongly reinforces the fact that you must work hard in order to master a skill and luck is not how you succeed.

This whimsical and inspiring tale of Melina, a young child learning to play the violin, is enchanting in many ways. When Melina finds the task of learning to play the second movement of Antonio Vivaldi's `Winter' too daunting, she is reassured by her teacher, Andrea. Andrea affirms that if Melina will practice hard and never give up, she will learn to play the beautiful piece in time. The Christmas Eve scene in the Grand Place in Brussels is so wonderfully descriptive that the reader can almost smell the mulled wine, see the vari-colored Christmas lights, and feel the excitement of Christmas in the chilly air.

A surprise is in store for Melina that Christmas Eve in the plaza, one which will change her life. Children and adults will love the magical realism of this gentle tale. At the same time, they will be inspired by it to have confidence in themselves, and to try hard to achieve a worthy goal by their own efforts. There is a sweetness in the story which will draw children and their parents and grandparents to read it again and again.

The lovely illustrations of K.C. Snider enhance the narrative, and engage the reader. The cover depicting the Grand Place is particularly descriptive and lovely. Mayra Calvani writes fluently and well. This book will be a joy and an inspiration to any child who is learning to play a musical instrument, or who is working hard to achieve any difficult goal.

BY: Gayle Jacobson-Huset

Eight-year-old Melina takes violin lessons from Andrea, who is from Rumania. Andrea wears a beautiful large square-cut emerald ring on her right middle finger, and Melina admires it. Andrea tells Melina that it's her "good luck" ring and she never takes it off. When Melina struggles to learn the second movement of "Winter" by Antonio Vivaldi, she tells Andrea that she'll never be able to learn the difficult piece. Andrea tells her all she needs is a "magic dose of self trust". Wondering where she'd find that, Melina heads home. On Christmas Eve, Melina's parents take her to a big square plaza in the center of Brussels (Belgium) called The Grand Place. Angel statues stand on pedestals on all 4 corners of the square, there's a skating rink, and there's also a huge Gothic church with a big clock tower to complete the picture. While drinking some hot chocolate, Melina hears music - somebody is playing the violin! She recognizes the music - it's Vivaldi's "Winter"! The violin player is an old woman in a ragged patched dress. Her face hides behind a large black hat. Something glitters on the old woman's right hand, but Melina can't quite see what it is from where she stands. People are throwing coins into the old woman's violin case, so Melina asks her parents if she can, too. Her dad gives her a one-franc note. Melina walks up to the old woman and holds out the franc note. The old woman reaches out to take it. On her hand is a large, square-cut emerald ring! Just like her teacher's ring! Was it her teacher's ring? And what or who is hiding under the old woman's hat? You will just have to read this book to find out the fun ending to this wonderful story!

Mayra makes this storyline and its backdrop magical, with just the right hint of mystery to it. Her characters' "voice" comes through loud and clear. Accompanied by the crisp, detailed, and lifelike illustrations of K.C. Snider, this book is a "keeper". This is a great read, especially for kids interested in music, mystery, magic during the holiday season, and the beauty of winter.