When Rubin Plays

Rubin is a little boy seduced by the sound of the local orchestra. He is keen to add his contribution by learning to play the violin. His first efforts are far from successful, but he does not give up. After sitting at the back of the rehearsal room all day and trying to play quietly, he has an idea.

After the day’s practice, the young musicians packed up

their instruments and walked home down the dusty path.

Rubin went the other way. He went into the forest –

somewhere away, where he could practice alone.

He lets fly on his instrument, and, as the screeching notes of Rubin’s violin fill the air, he attracts a chorus of cats, eager to join in his song.

The louder Rubin played, the louder they howled.

Back and forth they went, their sounds a leaping

crescendo deep into the night.

Back at orchestra practice, Rubin tries with all of his effort to integrate his playing into the ensemble. The other musicians offer suggestions on how he can improve, but nothing they add seems helpful. So, it’s back to the clearing in the forest. All the cats are there again.

Under the moon his audience kept tempo as they sang,

their tails waving back and forth like the maestro’s baton.

Rubin feels ready to join the orchestra on the day of the big concert which is being attended by people from all around. His sister Isabel, a cellist, who has always encouraged his attempts, whispers to him to play.

Rubin shifted in his seat; forte, forte, forte his heart beat.

He closed his eyes and thought he heard paws padding,

which couldn’t be, because paws are silent. Rubin squeezed

his bow, adjusted his violin – and played.

The loud tearing sound of the notes emerging from Rubin’s violin make the audience members start and fall off their chairs and lose fans and toupees. In the middle of it all, a crowd of cats appears to join in the noise-making. The crowd goes wild with enthusiasm. The day is a triumph, for Rubin with his forte forte forte, for the whole orchestra, and for the self-satisfied cats.

Vancouver-born author and illustrator Zhang has recreated life in a sleepy South American town inspired by one she visited outside La Paz, Bolivia. The simple lives of its inhabitants are underscored by the warmly-coloured pictures of dusty streets and low buildings with tiled roofs watched over by the church bell tower. The lush greens in the spreads of the forest where Rubin goes to practice provide a neat counterpoint. Strong black strokes outline people and objects, and large and dynamic hand lettering is used on the pages where Rubin’s violin scratches out its loud music and the cats howl. The antics of the cats throughout provide a lively contrast to the seriousness of the musicians.

The integration of musical terms - “fortissimo”, “maestro” – is done in such a way as to need no explanation. When Rubin Plays is an amusing story of a child determined to follow his own path in fulfilling a dream to play music. Librarians and teachers will take pleasure in introducing this book at preschool and primary story time sessions. Young listeners may be inspired to add their own voices to the cat chorus.

The author’s afterword describes her inspiration for the story, including the fact that there is a tradition of performing baroque classical music in the area where she has set the book. She states that, although she is not aware of any concert there being stormed by cats, she hopes readers learn “that an audience should never take away from the unbridled joy you feel by expressing yourself to your heart’s content”. Gracey Zhang was the winner of the 2022 Ezra Jack Keats Illustrator Award which was created “to nurture illustrators and writers early in their careers, who create extraordinary books that reflect our diverse population”.