Building an Orchestra of Hope

September 1, 2022
Cateura, Paraguay: a town built on a landfill. Families survive by working as gancheros digging through mountains of trash in hopes of finding recyclable cardboard, plastic, and metal to resell. From this town, with the help in 2006 of Favio Chavez, an environmental engineer who was also a musician, comes a children's orchestra using instruments made from the trash their homes are built upon: "oven trays, old drain pipes, door keys, metal forks and spoons, X-ray films, bottle caps, glue canisters, plastic buttons, paint cans." While Oliver's text centers Chavez (an outsider who is set up as a bit of a savior in the narrative), the artwork effectively positions the children of Cateura as the emotional focus of the story. Uribe's digital art is warm and inviting; ever-present sunshine seems to flood the outdoor setting, highlighting the musicians and their remarkable instruments. "'The world sends us garbage,' Favio says. 'We send back music.'" An inspiring picture book that demonstrates how environmentalism and the arts can unite to bring joy to an entire community. Back matter includes further details about Chavez and the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura as well as a bibliography that helpfully includes links to videos where readers can see and hear the orchestra perform. Eric Carpenter

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

October 28, 2022

K-Gr 4-Don't let readers stop at the last page of this encouraging picture book about Favio Chavez and how he and his people turned a sea of trash into sea of hope by making musical instruments from garbage: "The world sends us garbage. We send back music." Oliver conveys Chavez's story with grace and understanding. The people of Cateura, Paraguay, live in a sea of filth, constantly reminded they are living on a mountain of trash. The ganchero workers construct instruments to create a Recycled Orchestra. Uribe's illustrations seem to give their own musical story of what Oliver is trying to convey. Her art is subtle and soft, carrying readers along to see what happens to this beautiful community. Her illustrated scenes get brighter and brighter as the story comes to an end. VERDICT A strong nonfiction selection to convey that anything is possible, and that even garbage can lead to hope.-Jacquetta Etheridge

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2022
Cateura, Paraguay: a town built on a landfill. Families survive by working as gancheros digging through mountains of trash in hopes of finding recyclable cardboard, plastic, and metal to resell. From this town, with the help in 2006 of Favio Chavez, an environmental engineer who was also a musician, comes a children's orchestra using instruments made from the trash their homes are built upon: "oven trays, old drain pipes, door keys, metal forks and spoons, X-ray films, bottle caps, glue canisters, plastic buttons, paint canns." While Oliver's text centers Chavez (an outsider who is set up as a bit of a savior in the narrative), the artwork effectively positions the children of Cateura as the emotional focus of the story. Uribe's digital art is warm and inviting; ever-present sunshine seems to flood the outdoor setting, highlighting the musicians and their remarkable instruments. "'The world sends us garbage,' Favio says. 'We send back music.'" An inspiring picture book that demonstrates how environmentalism and the arts can unite to bring joy to an entire community. Back matter includes further details about Chavez and the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura as well as a bibliography that helpfully includes links to videos where readers can see and hear the orchestra perform.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

October 15, 2022
Grades K-3 Favio Ch�vez arrived in Cateura, Paraguay, a small village built on a landfill, to teach gancheros new techniques in recycling; gancheros earned a living by sifting through garbage for plastic, cardboard, and metal that could then be sold. In addition to worrying about living conditions in Cateura, Ch�vez was concerned about the village's children. He decided to share his love of music with them, but first he needed instruments. Ch�vez enlisted the help of his carpenter friend Nicol�s "Col�" G�mez to make instruments out of landfill materials. With some creative thinking, Col� crafted a glue-canister violin, a paint-can viola, drainpipe saxophones, and more. Ch�vez could now teach the children, turning them into the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, which has gone on to perform around the world. The artwork by Colombian illustrator Uribe does justice to this heartwarming story, finding beauty and color in Cateura, just like Ch�vez. An excellent example of innovation and STEAM in action, this title celebrates the joy and possibilities found in music. Thorough back matter provides additional information on Ch�vez and his orchestra.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 15, 2022
Harmony comes from an unlikely place. Arriving in Cateura, Paraguay, in 2006, the musically inclined Argentinean Favio Ch�vez expected to help the families of "a small village built on a landfill" with a recycling project. The local recyclers, called gancheros, spent their days wading through loads of filthy trash to gather and sell whatever was salvageable. As Favio grew closer to the ganchero community, he worried about the futures of the children. Could he teach them to play instruments in his youth orchestra? One problem: "He had more kids than instruments." An idea soon struck. Favio roped in a ganchero friend named Nicol�s "Col�" G�mez, who repurposed "old drain pipes, door keys, metal forks and spoons, X-ray films, bottle caps, glue canisters," and more into custom-made instruments over a period of years. At last, the child musicians each got the instrument they needed to create music under the tutelage of Favio. "And what music they made!" Indeed, this remarkable retelling of the surprising origins of the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, which has since gained international acclaim, motivates by the sheer ingenuity described. Oliver's text carefully chronicles each step undertaken by Favio in his quest to share a little music and hope with the town of Cateura, a community toiling through the material excesses of the modern world. Uribe's artwork--full of color yet naturalistic in its depictions--complements the prose. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Like a dose of pure inspiration. (further information, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 5-10)

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