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What Charlie Heard
The extraordinary story of the composer Charles Ives.
"Sometimes little Charlie lay in his crib just listening. He heard
his mother’s long dress as she moved around his room. He heard big clocks and little clocks. He heard wagons and horse hooves. He heard dogs and crickets and the church bell next door."
Charlie listened all through his boyhood, and as he grew into a man, he found he wanted to re-create in music the sounds that he heard every day. But others couldn’t hear what Charlie heard. They didn’t hear it as music – only as noise. In this daring and original book, Mordicai Gerstein graphically translates the audible into the visible – filling his pictures with noise – to tell the story of Charles Ives (1874–1954), a great musical innovator who let neither criticism nor public scorn keep him from composing music that expressed all that he heard in the world. He was finally recognized with a Pulitzer Prize in 1947.
What Charlie Heard is a 2003 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
"Sometimes little Charlie lay in his crib just listening. He heard
his mother’s long dress as she moved around his room. He heard big clocks and little clocks. He heard wagons and horse hooves. He heard dogs and crickets and the church bell next door."
Charlie listened all through his boyhood, and as he grew into a man, he found he wanted to re-create in music the sounds that he heard every day. But others couldn’t hear what Charlie heard. They didn’t hear it as music – only as noise. In this daring and original book, Mordicai Gerstein graphically translates the audible into the visible – filling his pictures with noise – to tell the story of Charles Ives (1874–1954), a great musical innovator who let neither criticism nor public scorn keep him from composing music that expressed all that he heard in the world. He was finally recognized with a Pulitzer Prize in 1947.
What Charlie Heard is a 2003 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published March 18, 2002
3 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Mordicai Gerstein
101 books72 followersMordicai Gerstein was an American artist, writer, and film director, best known for illustrating and writing children's books. He illustrated the comic mystery fiction series Something Queer is Going On.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 20, 2021
A Glorious Noise
I bought this book in 2004 for my new-born granddaughter on the strength of the review of my friend and Ives scholar, the late Bob Zeidler. Through moves and the intervening few years, my daughter and her husband kept the book. On a visit in 2008, this grandfather was surprised to learn that it had become a favorite. My graddaughter knows the story. "Who is that", I ask, pointing to a picture. "Charlie", she says. "And what's Charlie's wife's name?" "Harmony" she replies.
The great American composer, Charles Ives (1874 -- 1954) filled the air with what author Mordicai Gerstein calls that "mysterious, invisible, magical stuff -- music." I remember from my own childhood books on Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and the like. But a children's book on Charles Ives is a welcome rarity. Gerstein makes it succeed.
Ives was the son of a Civil War musician and band leader in Danbury, Connecticut. The precocious child absorbed his father's love for and wayward way with music -- the glorious noise -- as young Charlie used the piano, organ, and trumpet to capture the sounds and ideas that filled his life. Charlie attended Yale, married, and became a successful insurance executive. He kept composing increasingly audacious music, including songs, piano sonatas, violin sonatas,short orchestral pieces,and symphonies. But when his work was played, it was met with bewilderment and mockery. Ives stopped composing in mid-life. In his latter years, he saw his music attain recognition, as he received a Pulitzer Prize in 1947 for his Third Symphony. Gerstein's book recounts Charles Ives's reaction to the premiere of his Second Symphony in 1951, when the composer was 77. Many musicians began to champion other music of Ives, including his difficult "Concord" sonata for piano.
"If only they would open their ears they might open their hearts" Charlie says to Harmony in Gerstein's book. Gerstein captures the bravado and pace of early 20th Century America as well as the spirit of Ives's music, with its combination of American traditionalism and wild iconoclasm. Gerstein makes music a joyful experience. Gerstein captures the influence of revival meetings on young Charlie. "They didn't have beautiful voices, but they made beautiful music", is Gertstein's apt and important for young readers characterization of the influence of the hymn singing Charlie heard.
Gerstein based his book on Jan Swafford's biography of Charles Ives, "Charles Ives: A Life with Music" and on his own listening. A page at the end of the story offers a summary of Ives's work to parents who themselves might be encountering Ives for the first time in reading this book to a child. This book delightfully introduces young children to a great American composer. More importantly, it may help "open their ears and their hearts" to the world of music.
Robin Friedman
I bought this book in 2004 for my new-born granddaughter on the strength of the review of my friend and Ives scholar, the late Bob Zeidler. Through moves and the intervening few years, my daughter and her husband kept the book. On a visit in 2008, this grandfather was surprised to learn that it had become a favorite. My graddaughter knows the story. "Who is that", I ask, pointing to a picture. "Charlie", she says. "And what's Charlie's wife's name?" "Harmony" she replies.
The great American composer, Charles Ives (1874 -- 1954) filled the air with what author Mordicai Gerstein calls that "mysterious, invisible, magical stuff -- music." I remember from my own childhood books on Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and the like. But a children's book on Charles Ives is a welcome rarity. Gerstein makes it succeed.
Ives was the son of a Civil War musician and band leader in Danbury, Connecticut. The precocious child absorbed his father's love for and wayward way with music -- the glorious noise -- as young Charlie used the piano, organ, and trumpet to capture the sounds and ideas that filled his life. Charlie attended Yale, married, and became a successful insurance executive. He kept composing increasingly audacious music, including songs, piano sonatas, violin sonatas,short orchestral pieces,and symphonies. But when his work was played, it was met with bewilderment and mockery. Ives stopped composing in mid-life. In his latter years, he saw his music attain recognition, as he received a Pulitzer Prize in 1947 for his Third Symphony. Gerstein's book recounts Charles Ives's reaction to the premiere of his Second Symphony in 1951, when the composer was 77. Many musicians began to champion other music of Ives, including his difficult "Concord" sonata for piano.
"If only they would open their ears they might open their hearts" Charlie says to Harmony in Gerstein's book. Gerstein captures the bravado and pace of early 20th Century America as well as the spirit of Ives's music, with its combination of American traditionalism and wild iconoclasm. Gerstein makes music a joyful experience. Gerstein captures the influence of revival meetings on young Charlie. "They didn't have beautiful voices, but they made beautiful music", is Gertstein's apt and important for young readers characterization of the influence of the hymn singing Charlie heard.
Gerstein based his book on Jan Swafford's biography of Charles Ives, "Charles Ives: A Life with Music" and on his own listening. A page at the end of the story offers a summary of Ives's work to parents who themselves might be encountering Ives for the first time in reading this book to a child. This book delightfully introduces young children to a great American composer. More importantly, it may help "open their ears and their hearts" to the world of music.
Robin Friedman
April 24, 2015
What Charlie Heard by Mordicai Gerstein is a man who never gave up on his love for music. Charlie wrote music his entire life but it was not published until he was very old and becoming ill. I personally loved the book and will have it in my classroom. I love the illustrations throughout the book! The illustration are bright, colorful and contain musical words that capture what each page of the book is about. When charlie is happy the page is filled with color, and music words, such as bang, boom and ring. Like wise when Charlie is upset the page is dark and silent. I thought this was very engaging for the reader and tied in the importance of music to the book.
I would love to use this book as a read a loud in a 2nd through 4th grade classroom. You could use this book to engage auditory learners by setting it to music or humming/singing along with the book. This story could be used to teach students about music, figurative language or the importance of never giving up. This would be a wonderful story to read when a child is having a rough day because it is very up lifting! This story could also be used as an independent read for children that love music! This would engage then in a biography and expand their area of reading.
This book contains several nonfiction conventions. The book has boldface print,and colorful print to invasive how the book is about music. The illustrations are filled with colorful printed words. The story also contains a preface and a appendix discussing Charlie Ives.
Finally the story contains wonderful descriptive language to describe the importance of music in Charlie's life. The book could also be used for children that are auditory readers who are struggling with reading. The story would help engage them!
I would love to use this book as a read a loud in a 2nd through 4th grade classroom. You could use this book to engage auditory learners by setting it to music or humming/singing along with the book. This story could be used to teach students about music, figurative language or the importance of never giving up. This would be a wonderful story to read when a child is having a rough day because it is very up lifting! This story could also be used as an independent read for children that love music! This would engage then in a biography and expand their area of reading.
This book contains several nonfiction conventions. The book has boldface print,and colorful print to invasive how the book is about music. The illustrations are filled with colorful printed words. The story also contains a preface and a appendix discussing Charlie Ives.
Finally the story contains wonderful descriptive language to describe the importance of music in Charlie's life. The book could also be used for children that are auditory readers who are struggling with reading. The story would help engage them!
February 25, 2010
What Charlie Heard by Mordicai Gerstein is a wonderful introduction to the music written by Charles Ives. It is the story of Charles when he was a boy and how his father taught him to listen to all the sounds around him and that those sounds are actually music.
Though published as a children's picture book, I think the story lends itself better to middle or high schooled children. Children of this age would have the knowledge of history to fully comprehend the topic and will be fascinated with the idea of making music from the sounds around them.
Though published as a children's picture book, I think the story lends itself better to middle or high schooled children. Children of this age would have the knowledge of history to fully comprehend the topic and will be fascinated with the idea of making music from the sounds around them.
July 20, 2016
I love it when a picture book biography's text and art fit the subject as in this fun biography of Charles Ives. The sounds of both Ives as a child and as an adult composer are almost extra characters in this book. Readers will enjoy reading the "Burble, burble, burble" of the brook, or "Dum dum de dum" at a wedding. The book begins with Ives' birth, but ends with him contemplating and enjoying his Universe Symphony's sounds (not long before his death). An Author's Note gives more details, but the pictures had already convinced me of Ives' genius and connection to the auditory world. Even though I'm not a big fan of his music--this book made me a fan of the composer.
July 14, 2015
Awesome. The illustrations were wonderful. I especially loved the different textures that helped illustrate the textures Ives used in his music too. The story was informative, interesting, and aimed at engaging younger listeners.
October 29, 2017
What Charlie Heard is a story about one man unending fight to get people to listen with their hearts and not just their ears.
This book was very inspirational in teaching kids that they shouldn’t give up on a dream and that they should preserve. I found the way that he found music in everything he did interesting too. I usually listen to the sounds in my everyday life and thing nothing of it, but he was able to make it into actual music. After reading this story I got curious and listened to one of his songs, Central Park in the Dark, and I found it to be unlike anything I’ve ever heard before, which I found my myself enjoying.
This book would be something that I would use in teaching my students about persevering and never giving up. I would also use it to introduce my students to different genres of music and to artist that they may not be all that familiar with. I could also try and implement it as a quick write (playing a select for students and asking them to write about how the music made them feel).
This book was very inspirational in teaching kids that they shouldn’t give up on a dream and that they should preserve. I found the way that he found music in everything he did interesting too. I usually listen to the sounds in my everyday life and thing nothing of it, but he was able to make it into actual music. After reading this story I got curious and listened to one of his songs, Central Park in the Dark, and I found it to be unlike anything I’ve ever heard before, which I found my myself enjoying.
This book would be something that I would use in teaching my students about persevering and never giving up. I would also use it to introduce my students to different genres of music and to artist that they may not be all that familiar with. I could also try and implement it as a quick write (playing a select for students and asking them to write about how the music made them feel).
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January 21, 2026the pictures are very busy. but I am definitely going to to read this to my students next week because we just read a mouse called wolf about that composer so they know a little bit about composers and we're doing some lessons on sound so this is perfect to reiterate the vocabulary
January 22, 2017
Amazing true story and incredible illustrations to go along with it. Now please excuse me while I check out the subject Charles Ives' musical works!
March 9, 2018
I liked what the illustrations were trying to do but in the end it was distracting.
May 24, 2019
Maybe an idea for introducing music and rhythm along with biography.
December 30, 2019
My grandson and I read this book together. He loved it. Afterward we listened to music written by Charles Ives. Truly wonder-full!
May 11, 2020
Good illustrations that visually demonstrate all the sounds surrounding Charlie as he wrote his music.
January 26, 2021
Very enjoyable, but not quite as good as the book about Philipe Petit. There's a bit about his father passing away that might be tougher to explain if you are reading to very little ones.
November 19, 2013
In this fun,picture book bibliography based on the extraordinary composer Charles Ives, charlie is born hearing every sound imaginable around him. From his mothers dress swaying across the floor to the crickets outside. He hears the horses out the window and the trumpets from his fathers band. Charlie hears dogs barking, frogs croaking, instruments strumming, drums beating, the parade shouting, a much much more. All of the sounds encouraged him to pursue a career as a composer, creating and listening to music for the rest of his life. You learn toward the end that he creates music, even when he is gone.
The illustrations created by Mordicai Gerstein are all audible sounds painted across the entire paper on every page. There are sounds written across characters in the story and even across different objects making certain noises. There are so many sounds that charlie heard which made it hard to keep up with the illustrations. Without the text telling us the story, we the readers would not know what this story was about. I enjoyed this book very much, but it was not my favorite because what draws me in to read a picture book is of course the illustrations and this one was just too confusing. The characters however, were very detailed and the colors were pretty bold and vibrant. This aspect of the art work went well with the creative story. I love how the illustrations include every single detail that was explained in the text along with the sounds made by that certain object/ person/ animal/etc. But it was a little too crowded, especially for a young child to follow along with the pictures as an adult is reading aloud.
The illustrations created by Mordicai Gerstein are all audible sounds painted across the entire paper on every page. There are sounds written across characters in the story and even across different objects making certain noises. There are so many sounds that charlie heard which made it hard to keep up with the illustrations. Without the text telling us the story, we the readers would not know what this story was about. I enjoyed this book very much, but it was not my favorite because what draws me in to read a picture book is of course the illustrations and this one was just too confusing. The characters however, were very detailed and the colors were pretty bold and vibrant. This aspect of the art work went well with the creative story. I love how the illustrations include every single detail that was explained in the text along with the sounds made by that certain object/ person/ animal/etc. But it was a little too crowded, especially for a young child to follow along with the pictures as an adult is reading aloud.
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December 3, 2015This book is about a baby boy who is born hearing every single sound around him. He hears his mothers dress on the swaying on the floor, from all the little critters making noises outside. Charlie hears horses, dogs barking, crickets, every single sound you can think of. He also hears the trumpets and other instruments from his fathers band. He is so fascinated by every noise that he becomes a composer when he grows up. He created music the rest of his life.
I really liked the illustrations because there are sounds written across characters and objects throughout the whole story. The only thing that may be a down fall is the pictures might have been a little too busy because they portrayed every single sound he heard. All the colors were bold and flashy. You could really understand how Charlie's mind worked from the Illustrations. I would have had the pages a little less crowded but then again it was showing what Charlie all thought. I don't know if I would read this to a class because it might be a little too distracting for the students to pay attention to what I am actually saying.
I really liked the illustrations because there are sounds written across characters and objects throughout the whole story. The only thing that may be a down fall is the pictures might have been a little too busy because they portrayed every single sound he heard. All the colors were bold and flashy. You could really understand how Charlie's mind worked from the Illustrations. I would have had the pages a little less crowded but then again it was showing what Charlie all thought. I don't know if I would read this to a class because it might be a little too distracting for the students to pay attention to what I am actually saying.
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August 22, 2011Biographies for children tend to err by romanticizing their subjects, setting them up as paragons, and perpetuating stereotypes, in the spirit of Longfellow’s stirring and bombastic lines: “Lives of great men all remind us/ We can make our lives sublime,/ And, departing, leave behind us/ Footprints on the sands of time.” But two recently published picture books, remarkable examples of the genre, eschew embarrassments of this sort. Read more...
September 29, 2011
I liked this. I didn't know who Charles Ives was, to be honest, prior to reading this story. I knew who Burl Ives was, and I knew the line from the Christmas carol "Like a picture print from Currier and Ives", but Charles Ives was a mystery to me. Now I know, but I've still never heard his music. At least, I've never consciously listened to a piece that I knew was composed by Charles Ives. But the book was good. I liked the illustrations draped with the onomatopoeias. It would be a good book for teaching onomatopoeia to a younger audience. Very nice story.
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April 11, 2011I think Charlie is a creative boy not like anybody else it's like we all know we are different but he i different in a special way he could hear things that we couldn't he played all sorts of instruments and he was creative he loved the parades that his dad held and when he got old he still loved them and would watch them every year when they came.
January 18, 2016
Very busy illustrations mimic the complexity of Ives' musical compositions. The text is straightforward and provides an excellent summary of Ives' childhood and career. Good book for discussions about expressive and modern music, and also for discussions about life pursuits and being open to new ideas.
November 14, 2013
Cute biography taught on a child's level
May 30, 2014
마음을 열면 세상 모든 소리, 소음까지도 아름답고 재미있고 슬프고도 기쁨에 넘치는 놀라운 음악이 된다.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews