Jubilee! One Man's Big Bold and Very Very Loud Celebration of Peace Archives -

JUBILEE! One Man’s Big, Bold and Very, Very Loud Celebration of Peace

April 15, 2014
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Ages 7 and up, Ages 7-10, American History - Civil War, Bandleader Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, Celebrations & Festivals - National Peace Jubilee, Children's Book Reviews, Juvenile Nonfiction, Juvenile Nonfiction - Biography/Autobiography

JUBILEE! One Man’s Big, Bold and Very, Very Loud Celebration of Peace by Alicia Potter, with illustrations by Matt Tavares

☆ Publishers Weekly – Starred review

JUBILEE! One Man’s Big, Bold and Very, Very Loud Celebration of Peace, written by Alicia Potter and illustrated by Matt Tavares (Candlewick, $16.99, Ages 7-10), is a new picture book reviewed today by Cathy Ballou Mealey.

Big events – really BIG events – are not a new idea for most of us these days. We witness enormous crowds at sporting events like the Super Bowl and World Cup soccer matches. Political rallies, marathons, even royal weddings draw spectators and participants by the hundreds of thousands. But this idea was more novel in 1869, when Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore pulled off an incredible festival in Boston; the National Peace Jubilee.

Alicia Potter and Matt Tavares have captured Gilmore’s story with enthusiasm in this picture book biography extolling one man’s determination to mark the end of the Civil War with a celebration of unheard-of proportions. As a child in Ireland, Gilmore developed a passion for music that he brought to America as a professional bandleader and a member of the Massachusetts 24^th Regiment. After the war ended, Gilmore dreamed up a five-day musical concert bigger, bolder, and louder than any other to celebrate peace and restore national unity.

Interior spread from Jubilee! One Man’s Big, Bold and Very, Very Loud Celebration of Peace by Alicia Potter with illustrations by Matt Tavares,
© 2014 Candlewick Press.

Potter writes masterfully, building anticipation toward the big event by chronicling the steps Gilmore took to raise funds and public support over several years. She chooses great aural vocabulary to describe the roar of the organ and the thundering of drums. Tavares wisely incorporates toots, booms, and shreets into his soft, detailed illustrations that fill both the eyes and the ears with impressions of the experience.

An extensive author’s note and bibliography provide supplemental information about Patrick Gilmore’s life and subsequent events that led to his designation “Father of the American Band.”

Potter and Tavares’ fascinating tale will captive elementary-age readers and ensure that this important chapter in American music history is not forgotten.