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Sylvie and the Songman
by
Tim Binding
A compelling story full of magic and music.
Sylvie Bartram lives alone with Mr. Jackson the dog and her eccentric composer father, who invents strange and wonderful musical instruments. One day she returns from school to find a message left in toothpaste on the bathroom mirror: her father has been kidnapped. Later that night, the house is visited by a terrifying apparition—...more
Sylvie Bartram lives alone with Mr. Jackson the dog and her eccentric composer father, who invents strange and wonderful musical instruments. One day she returns from school to find a message left in toothpaste on the bathroom mirror: her father has been kidnapped. Later that night, the house is visited by a terrifying apparition—...more
Library Binding, 352 pages
Published
August 11th 2009
by David Fickling Books
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Yearning To Read
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All is not well in London, England. Sylvie has noticed that the birds refuse to whistle, and her own dog, Mr. Jackson, apparently has lost his bark. The fox she always sees from the train isn’t on his platform, watching her pass. Her father, Daniel, a creative musician who builds and plays his own insturments, has just discovered an entirely new note. Shortly afterward, he disappears, leaving only an eye drawn on the bathroom mirror with toothpaste to give Sylvie a clue to work with. Sylvie and ...more
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Loved the premise, kooky, kind, likable father invents musical instruments that capture the sounds of animals, birds and even humans not found on conventional musical instruments. When these instruments strike a powerful, loud chord, the adventure begins. Sylvie's mother had drown at sea a year earlier, then her lovable father mysteriously disappears after he hits this chord, setting in motion an adventure for Sylvie, thirteen, her friend George, and her dog, Mr. Jackson, who mysteriously lost...more
J Binding T
Sylvie Bartram faces several mysteries in this book. Where has her father, a musician and inventor, disappeared to? Why are so many animals losing their voices? Why are mysterious and upsetting characters searching her house? She sets off with friends, human and animal, to find the answers and bring her missing father home.
What attracted me to this book initially was a startling cover. The book is well illustrated and it prompted me to take a look at the inner fl...more
Sylvie Bartram faces several mysteries in this book. Where has her father, a musician and inventor, disappeared to? Why are so many animals losing their voices? Why are mysterious and upsetting characters searching her house? She sets off with friends, human and animal, to find the answers and bring her missing father home.
What attracted me to this book initially was a startling cover. The book is well illustrated and it prompted me to take a look at the inner fl...more
Tim Binding’s book Sylvie and the Songman is a unique tale that explores the power of music. When Sylvie’s father disappears and the birds and animals all begin to lose their voices, Sylvie knows that it is up to her to unravel the mystery and rescue her Dad. George, her best friend, comes along and it does not take long before the dangers of their adventure threaten their safety. The sinister Woodpecker man and his cohorts are hunting them down so they must find refuge with the animals. Sylvie ...more
This book is so unique and original--a really fresh fantasy plot. I really enjoyed reading something so different. I also really, really liked the "animal language" and the talking to animals stuff...the animals were adorable, endearing, and heartbreaking.
The book did start off really slowly and was overly "British," I felt...kind of hard to understand what some words meant. Also, the majority of the characters didn't seem very full and complete. I didn't re...more
The book did start off really slowly and was overly "British," I felt...kind of hard to understand what some words meant. Also, the majority of the characters didn't seem very full and complete. I didn't re...more
Sylvie's musician/inventor father doesn't come home one night, and this is the start of Sylvie's surreal adventures as she tries to find him and defeat the very bad guys. All of her father's musical instruments have vanished, and Sylvie, except for the help of her friend George, realizes that she is on her own. Why don't the birds sing anymore, and why does Sylvie's dog, Mr. Jackson, also seem to have lost his voice? Who is the scary Woodpecker Man and why is he chasing them? This often frig...more
I started reading an ARC of this... it's many things I SHOULD by all accounts love...mystery, fantasy, TERRIBLY British in wit and wry humour, full of animals, kites, and clueless young girls... and yet I got about 85 pages in and realized that I was skimming through an encounter with the first "Monster", a Woodpecker man. This is not good, considering I had another 250+ pages to go and was already on the skim.
I wonder if it's just not the time for the book. It's a quick e...more
I wonder if it's just not the time for the book. It's a quick e...more
All the animals have lost their voices. Sylvie's father has disappeared. Things start to get very strange. Sylvie and her friend George, along with Sylvie's faithful dog Mr. Jackson, set off on a quest to find Sylvie's father, help the animals recover their voices, and defeat the Songman.
Throughout the book there were moments when I was reminded of various other children's fantasy books. However, the similarities did not bother me. This book was really its own story, despite the simi...more
Throughout the book there were moments when I was reminded of various other children's fantasy books. However, the similarities did not bother me. This book was really its own story, despite the simi...more
Melinda
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Shelves:
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Set in England, this story is about a girl named Sylvie who lives with her eccentric father, Daniel, and their dog, Mr. Jackson, in a rural area of Cornwall. Daniel is an inventor of instruments, and he is creating ones that capture sounds of nature. When her father goes missing, Sylvie enlists the help of her friend George to find him. Together with Mr. Jackson and a fox to which Sylvie has a special bond, they battle the evil Songman who is trying to steal the songs of all animals. This was...more
Reviewed by Theresa L. Stowell for TeensReadToo.com
Thirteen-year-old Sylvie Bartram's father is not just any musician in SYLVIE AND THE SONGMAN by Tim Binding. Daniel Bartram is an inventor and composer whose search for that one perfect note leads to more trouble than anyone could have imagined.
One night, father and daughter experiment with his homemade instruments and hit an unusual note. The next day, Sylvie comes home from school to find that her father is missing and ...more
Thirteen-year-old Sylvie Bartram's father is not just any musician in SYLVIE AND THE SONGMAN by Tim Binding. Daniel Bartram is an inventor and composer whose search for that one perfect note leads to more trouble than anyone could have imagined.
One night, father and daughter experiment with his homemade instruments and hit an unusual note. The next day, Sylvie comes home from school to find that her father is missing and ...more
The illustrations are pencil drawings, with lots of shadow and light, afew clear images but mostly suggestions. Thats probably the best description of the book too. Sylvie has lost her mother and then her father disappears. She has to search for him and then rescue him from the Songman, who is determined to steal the songs of all creatures so he can control the world. Its an interesting idea, with many of the elements of good YA. And an overall enjoyable book. But I'd have enjoyed a hint of colo...more
Some parts of the book I really enjoyed, like the way the animals spoke. TOwards the end, there is this really strange section about addiction, which I think would be over the heads of elementary students. I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to. There are also two scenes where the young characters drink wine. It is apparent that the do this, not because they want to get drunk, but because they are frightened and are trying to act like adults.
This author should stick to adult fiction. I almost gave up on this book a few times it dragged on and just didn't have that spark for me. The idea of being able to talk to animals was interesting but, I felt handled a bit clunkly. The plot itself was a bit of a cliche but, world domination through song was a unique twist I suppose. I do not believe this book would hold a kids attention past the first few chapters.
An engrossing story about a girl who rescues her mysteriously disappearing father, and saves the world at the same time. Wonderful rendering of a love of, and the goodness of, nature (the majesty and unconquerable nature of the tiger; a wise fox; the sea) and also its dangers. I was intrigued by the use of woodpeckers as indicative of evil and their creepiness was rendered so well.
Honestly, I didn't finish it. Still, I think it's the kind of eerie fantasy that I would have loved as a kid. Sylvie's dad disappears one day along with her dog's voice and those of many other animals in her neighborhood. A strange woodpecker man in a hot air balloon starts hunting down Sylvie and her tone-deaf friend George - could it have something to do with her father's invented musical instruments? And who's the Songman they keep hearing about? An exciting, creepy, mysterious adventure stor...more
Interesting concept. The world building slipped at times, but it's well written. I got bored off and on, though, and I'm not sure if it's because I had to put it down so often after reading two or three pages because of the kids, or if it's because I was reading during midnight feedings with the baby.
This was a very unique book for young adults. I really liked the premise but thought certain things should have been better explained (such as why there were no other humans around during the protagonist's adventure). I also didn't love the ending.
The theme of finding out she has unknown gifts/powers (to understand animals)is cliche and the storyline a little bizzare, but the adventure and special connection with animals may appeal to readers. Woodpecker man (antagonist) is pretty creepy.
A really interesting YA novel from Britain about a girl whose father is kidnapped for his musical instruments by a guy who wants to take away the song of the world.
A strange enchanting story! Really beautiful writing, and very imaginative! I devoured it in one day; couldn't put it down.
Hauptsächlich blah... blah blah blah, das stellenweise durch überraschende (und fehlwirkende) Brutalität durchbrochen wird.
One Sentence Review: A strange and lyrical book, though one that does feel as if it was written by an adult author who was trying to figure out the children's book genre.
I guess the storyline would best be described as bizarre, but frankly, I loved it. It was magical.
3 and 1/2 stars. I liked Sylvie and George and the animal fantasy parts. The Songman is a villian, but not a complete one. I can see parents in our crazy American suburban culture objecting to these European kids drinking wine. I wanted to like it more, but couldn't.
O.K. I just was not able to get into this book. Will have to try again some other time.
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Novelist Tim Binding was born in Germany in 1947. A former editor at Penguin Books in London, he is a part-time commissioning editor at London publishers Simon & Schuster. He is the author of the novels, In the Kingdom of Air (1993), A Perfect Execution (1996) (shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize), Island Madness (1998), set on Guernsey during the Second World War, and Man Overboard (2005)....more
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