Copland

A Story About America

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Viking Books for Young Readers

(Penguin Random House)

(pub. 2.24.2026)

40 pages

Ages 4-8

Author and Illustrator: Veronica Mang

Character: Aaron Copland

Overview:

" Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn in 1900 at the dawn of a new generation. In a community of immigrants, he had a front-row seat to the many ways that the United States was growing and changing. During this electrifying time, Aaron began making music as dynamic and innovative as the people and progress around him. While some didn't understand his style or appreciate his desire to break the rules in his compositions, he endeavored to create a sound that reflected the America he knew and loved."

Tantalizing taste:

"Aaron finds an extraordinary teacher. In 1921, it is unthinkable for a woman to teach a man how to compose. But the world is changing. Mademoiselle teaches Aaron how to grow a seed of an idea into a symphony.

His dream begins to bloom."

And something more: Veronica Mang shared in the Author's Note: "Aaron's music, in all its tenderness and strength and joy, asks us: What does it mean to be American, and who can we be at our best? That is the question that inspired me to write this book."

"Composers don't write music to console their audiences as though they were composing lullabies. They write music to stir people up, to make them think about the varieties of human experience depicted in their work." - Aaron Copland.