As the war rages on and times get difficult, Mr. O makes his contribution to the community by playing his cello in the square every Wednesday afternoon, thus as things get even more desperate, all in the community soon begin to realize the meaning behind his special gift. Grade 1-4-In poetic prose, a young girl describes what it is like to live in a city ravaged by war. Schools are closed, electricity and telephone service is out, and the only consolation is the arrival each Wednesday of the relief truck bringing food and supplies. To pass time, the children play together in the hallways. When they make too much noise, an elderly musician, Mr. O, opens his apartment door and scolds them. No one, not even the adults, talks to Mr. O, who keeps to himself. But the week after the relief truck is bombed, the old man takes his cello into the courtyard and plays for all of the frightened, hungry people. The music is described as something "which feeds us as truly as the supplies brought by the truck did." Later, when the cello is destroyed by more shelling, the little girl wonders, "What will feed us now?" These and a few other didactic statements, jarringly atypical of any child, mar an otherwise lovely story. Couch's watercolor illustrations, however, are absolute perfection. In warm earth tones, the artist has captured both the emotion and the details of civilian life under siege. While the war is not named, readers may infer a reference to the Balkan conflict. In spite of a little excess verbiage, this is an inspiring story. Jackie Hechtkopf, University of Maryland, College Park Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. In a shelled, rubble-strewn city, women and children huddle indoors and waitfor the war to be over, for the men to come home, for the fear to end. When even the slight lift brought by the weekly arrival of relief supplies is taken away by the bombing of the delivery truck, irascible old Mr. O calmly steps out into the open and, despite the danger, sits down to play Bach on his magnificent cello. Cutler ('Gator Aid, p. 1131, etc.) has fashioned a simply told, powerfully evoked tale of music and courage; in somber watercolors lit by abstract swirls of color, Couch places the young narrator and her neighbor amidst shattered buildings beneath overcast skies. Not even the destruction of his cello stops Mr. O from continuing to deliver his gift; out of his pocket comes a harmonica, and the music soars again. Though the setting and characters have a modern, European look, neither locale nor enemy is specified, or, in fact, relevant. (Picture book. 6-9) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Used Book in Good Condition