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Sister, Brother, Family: An American Childhood in Music

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Sister, Brother, Family: An American Childhood in Music

Hardcover

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Hardcover
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Overview

The first ever children's book by music legend Willie Nelson and his sister and bandmate Bobbie Nelson!

"We had so little money, but so much love."

He was a boy with a guitar. She was a girl with a piano. Raised by loving grandparents in Depression-era rural Texas, their humble beginnings playing local shows to put food on the table started Willie and Bobbie Nelson on a remarkable path to global stardom. In a story filled with details of a childhood in rural Texas—with church socials, general stores, and town dances—Willie and Bobbie weave together an inspiring story of a long-ago time. With triumphs and tragedies, hard work and determination, here is a deeply personal, gorgeously-written, and profoundly moving tale of hope.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781984851833
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	11/09/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,140,360
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

WILLIE NELSON is a music legend and national treasure with a six-decade career and over 200 albums. This iconic Texan is the creative genius behind the historic recordings of Red Headed Stranger, Crazy, and Stardust. Willie has earned countless awards and accolades as a musician, in addition to being a celebrated author, actor, and activist. He continues to thrive as a musical and cultural force, writing, singing, and playing with the wit and wisdom that comes from a life on the road. Learn more about his work on willienelson.com and follow him on Instagram at @willlienelsonofficial and on Twitter and Facebook at @willienelson.

BOBBIE NELSON has played piano alongside her brother, Willie Nelson, for more than 50 years. She started in Abbott, Texas, as a young musician and reconnected musically with Willie in 1973 to record his album The Troublemaker. She has been a member of his Family Band ever since. In 2007, at age 76, Bobbie released her solo debut, Audiobiography, and in 2014, the brother-sister duo put out December Day, inspired by their many years playing and recording together. She is an inductee in the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, and the state of Texas declared February 23 as “Bobbie Nelson Day.”

CHRIS BARTON (co-writer) is the author of a number of acclaimed picture books, including Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions, a Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee and a Junior Library Guild selection. He lives in Austin, Texas. Learn more about his work at chrisbarton.info and follow him on Twitter at @Bartography.

KYUNG EUN HAN lives in Anyung, Korea, and is the illustrator of the picture book biography Hard Work, But It's Worth It: The Life of Jimmy Carter. See more of her work on Instagram at @kyung_illust.

From the B&N Reads Blog

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Editorial Reviews

07/05/2021
Told in alternating perspectives from Bobbie and Willie Nelson, who refer to each other as Sister and Brother, this sentimental picture book debut, cowritten by Barton, chronicles the musical siblings’ lives. Raised by their grandparents, Mama and Daddy Nelson, in “little Abbott, Texas,” Bobbie falls in love with the piano (“The piano felt like a friend”), and Willie has a knack for the guitar (“Six strings seemed just about right”). Together, they play music at church, to comfort themselves when Daddy Nelson dies suddenly, to support the family financially by playing in dance halls, and as they begin storied careers as performers. Prose occasionally hits a stale note (“We had so little money but so much love”), though largely maintains a fondly nostalgic tone. Kyung’s subtly textured, vintage stylized images, rendered in dusty hues and portraying a white cast, contribute to the book’s Southern charm. A personal-feeling family story that firmly reinforces the power of music as connective tissue in two country stars’ lives. Ages 3–7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"A personal-feeling family story that firmly reinforces the power of music as connective tissue in two country stars’ lives."—Publishers Weekly

"A cute collectible."—Kirkus

From the Publisher

10/01/2021
K-Gr 4—Country legends Willie Nelson and his sister, Bobbie Nelson, come together in this touching homage to family, music, and a life of connection. In a back-and-forth narrative that could easily be set to music, they describe their bucolic American upbringing of garden-picked vegetables, joyful church services, and unlimited love from the grandparents who raised them. Education was paramount in their home—books and music were as important as hard work. Willie and Bobbie felt such passion for music that it felt like another family member. It healed them, filled them with joy, and connected them in a way that nothing else could. The illustrations are infused with muted colors, evoking a sense of nostalgia and providing a backdrop to let the lyrical prose take center stage. Realism fills the illustrations with authenticity, so fans of these siblings will feel that they are getting to know this legendary duo from a whole different perspective. VERDICT A sentimental purchase for Willie's fans rather than children. Purchase where Willie reigns supreme.—Kate Davis, Fort Lupton Public & School Lib., CO

School Library Journal

2021-07-14
This story of how siblings Willie and Bobbie Nelson became lifelong musical partners focuses on how the two grew up together in Abbott, Texas.
Many fans know the story of the redheaded stranger Willie Nelson, the songwriter and performer who, at age 88, continues to perform and release music. But far fewer know the story of Nelson’s sister, Bobbie, a pianist and gifted singer who has played with her brother since the two were young children. “My first piano was one we made from cardboard, with a keyboard drawn in crayon,” Bobbie says in the alternating narration. “We loved music. Music loved us back. It provided for us and protected us and supported our family’s soul,” Willie says. The family’s rural life is portrayed as loving and idyllic as the two are raised by their grandparents until their grandfather dies. From there it’s a short, abrupt journey from playing in church and in front of their first crowds to playing to huge audiences, as shown in a collection of ticket stubs that bookend the storybook. This picture book feels disconnected from its putative child audience. By softening rough edges and by focusing only on the siblings’ childhood, the story pins itself to an old-fashioned past. The serviceable illustrations that seem intentionally faded and muted likewise don’t concede much to a modern kid audience. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
More a cute collectible for established fans than a children’s book that invites new curiosity. (Picture book/memoir. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews

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