Someone Who Notices
"Dylan was someone who noticed things"
In response to a world that is constantly on the go and in an endless hurry to get somewhere else, slowing down and enjoying the present moment has become a reoccurring theme in children's picture books. With recent releases like Wait by Antoinette Portis, Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson, and Waiting by Kevin Henkes, this trend has become especially noticeable in the past year. The most recent book that I read with this theme is The Man with the Violin. In this award-winning book, Kathy Stinson and Dušan Petricic also send out a similar invitation to stop and be present. Together, they tell the true story of Joshua Bell and the exceptional event that most passerbys were just too busy to notice.
In January 2007, Joshua Bell, a world famous violinist, performed a free concert in a Washington DC metro station. However, hardly anyone stopped to listen to the musician that was dressed in ordinary clothes but playing extraordinary music. This book is based on what happened that day and told through the eyes and ears of young Dylan.
In the story, Dylan is the only person to notice and actually appreciate the high quality music; he begs his mother again and again to stop and listen. In the postscript of the book, Joshua Bell says this was truly the case that day: "Over a thousand people heard me play my violin in the L'Enfant Plaza Metro Station in Washington DC. But very few actually listened. Among those who tried were several children, and I clearly remeber them turning their heads, straining to listen while their parents dragged them away, hurrying to get to their destination."
This story starts right off with a powerful double spread illustration that speaks louder than any words ever could. Here we see Dylan being dragged along by his mother and in their wake, white strokes show us their line of vision and the things that they notice as they go along. Strikingly, while Dylan notices everything - from the pictures on a newspaper to the interesting objects in the display window - his mother's vision is completely blank. She is utterly unaware of her surroundings and is intently focused on getting to somewhere else. It is easy to imagine what the mother might be thinking (which train do we need to take? I knew we should have left earlier! Do we have enough money on our metro cards?). After all, they are the thoughts that fill many adults' minds as we bustle through the big and little concerns of our daily lives.
I was unfamiliar with Dušan Petricic's work before I read this book, but his unique style truly lends itself well to the words and message of Joshua Bell's story. I love the way he very deliberately creates tension between the fluid vibrant colors of the music and the jagged black impression of noise and meaningless talking. It is also interesting to note the sparse use of color throughout the rest of the story: only the music notes, the musician, Dylan, and Dylan's mother depart from the drab grey of everything and everyone else around. It is a powerful way of conveying how music and art brings beauty to the ordinariness of our lives.
Indeed, along with awareness, music is also celebrated throughout this book. Music lifts Dylan up - literally! It gives him an out-of-body experience that he desires to share with his mother. As Joshua Bell himself says, "Music requires imagination and curiosity - two things that children have in plenty." It is these childlike characteristics that make the young appreciative of the present as well as of music.
If Dylan were like his mom and always thinking about what they next needed to do, he too might have missed the beauty and the awe of the moment. This is a poignant and necessary message in today's active world. Although it is arguably the adults who truly need these reminders, it is incredibly fitting that this theme - which is at the center of the movement known as Mindfulness - is found in children's books. Without the distractions that adults all too often concern themselves with, children are free to be present in the moment. And on the heels of this unhindered perspective comes appreciation for the small joys, gratitude for the gift that is living, and awareness of the extraordinary.
Maybe we should all be a little more like Dylan - someone who notices things.
