Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers’ Favorite

What a delightful picture book Sarah Gulish has written for primary school-aged children interested in music! Rosie Rocks, illustrated by Gulish’s brother, David Allen, will appeal to any child who dreams of playing a musical instrument but might feel he or she isn’t talented enough, or worse yet, is hesitant to share their desire to play a specific instrument other than those being offered in music class. In Rosie’s case, that instrument is the electric guitar. Rosie knows rock music greats. She’d love to play like Joan Jett, with amplifiers cranked to the max. So when her understanding teacher, Mrs. A. allows her to choose the apricot-colored Telecaster Noventa named “Big Red,” Rosie is thrilled and begins practicing daily. But when Mrs A. informs the class that the school will be hosting a talent show, poor Rosie’s insecurities threaten to make her chicken out. Does she? That’s what young readers will find out as they flip the beautifully illustrated pages of Rosie Rocks.

This charming book is beautiful for many reasons. Since Sarah Gulish is a musician, she and her illustrator brother teach readers about the guitar, its strings, frets, the knobs on amplifiers, and more through pictures. But there’s something very special about those pictures: to create them, and all the sets in this story, David built the sets from cardboard. Then he photographed them all on film. To enhance the presentation even further, David rendered the photos in black/white/gray, but when it comes to whatever matters most in each illustration, whether it’s the children’s clothing or the frets on the guitar, those items are colored as if children did the coloring in pencils. This technique makes the entire book even more relatable to young readers. In short? Rosie Rocks in more ways than one. Bravo!