Review of The Music Inside Us

YO-YO MA & His Gifts to the World

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Abrams Books for Young Readers

pub. 6.3.2025

48 pages

Ages 4 - 8

Author: James Howe

   Illustrator: Jack Wong

Character: Yo-Yo Ma

Overview:

"At a young age, Yo-Yo Ma discovered a remarkable gift for the cello, playing Bach from memory by age four. His technique was far beyond his years, but even as he grew and became a world-class musician—studying at Juilliard, performing at Carnegie Hall at a young age, even playing on television before the president of the United States—he wanted to use his gift for something deeper, something bigger.

As he asked question after question, trying to understand his place in the world, he discovered something that every culture has in common: music.

Ma decided that he would spend his life not only performing for others, but learning from other cultures’ musical traditions and finding ways to unite people. Even as he dedicated himself to humanitarian work around the world, Ma also dedicated himself to teaching a new generation of young cellists to play with their whole hearts, bodies, and souls, like he does—how to find the music inside themselves."

Tantalizing taste:

"For years, Yo-Yo worked hard on his technique,

listening carefully as he played,

until his cello sang with its own voice,

in harmony with his voice,

his heart,

his body,

his soul."

And something more: James Howe in the Author's Note explains: "I wrote this book for the same reason that Yo-Yo Ma has done so much in his life: to ask questions and to learn, to let another's life touch and inspire my own, and to connect."