Last modified: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 12:46 AM EDT KESSLER: Rhapsodic train tale hits the right notes Before school ended, I was asked to read to a class at the Community School in North Attleboro. Since I was assigned my daughter's class, I approached the assignment with a bit of trepidation, something about having to be perfect. So I asked for a copy of the book that I'd be reading ahead of time. The book, "Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue," by Anna Harwell Celenza, with illustrator Joann E. Kitchel, immediately put me at ease. It's a true story, beautifully illustrated, about how the iconic American composer and musician, George Gershwin, came about writing one of his most famous pieces, "Rhapsody in Blue." I took a few minutes on a Sunday afternoon, the day before I was to read, to peruse the book, which I found both entertaining and instructive. In addition, the CD of "Rhapsody" that was included with the book was inspiring. The story explains that George Gershwin wrote "Rhapsody" for a special concert that a promoter was planning, but that's only part of the tale. The book starts out with Gershwin reading in the New York Times that he was composing a new concerto for the concert, only there was a twist: That was news to him. In the 1920s and beyond, that was one of the oldest tricks in the book; it was called "planting a story." As anyone who has even a smattering of knowledge of American music history knows, Gershwin agreed to write the piece, but not without some difficulty. He developed writer's block for weeks until finding his inspiration, of all places, on the train. What happened was that he was taking a Boston-bound train, where he was headed to see one of the shows for which he had written the music. The chugging of the engine and other train noises gave him the idea to write a concerto that would celebrate the many sounds of New York, and the rich diversity of that city. The result was probably one of the seminal works of American music. There was no doubt that the story was uplifting, but I wasn't sure whether the students would find it interesting. My worries proved unfounded, as the Community School fifth-graders not only gave me a good reception, and seemed to enjoy listening to the CD after the reading, but some letters that they were kind enough to write to me before school ended confirmed that they got a lot out of the reading. Here's just a sampling of the letters, which prove that students are a lot sharper than people give them credit for. Anthony: "The book that you read was a really cool book. It was one of the best books a storyteller ever read us. The illustrator drew very creative pictures. If I ever want to grab a picture book, it probably would be by that illustrator. Jesse: "Thank you for reading the amazing book by Anna Harwell Celenza. This book is very interesting, and it also helped me learn about the history of music. It is amazing that Gershwin never gave up, when he was going to compose in Paul Whiteman's musical. He even regretted even trying to compose the musical piece, but he still did." Marissa: "Thank you for reading "Rhapsody in Blue" by Anna Harwell Celenza. I enjoyed learning about it. The story you read was very interesting because it happened so long ago." Patrick: " I really enjoyed the book you read to us by Anna Harwell Celenza. I enjoyed this book because I've always liked classical music, and when I heard the story and the CD, I really enjoyed myself." Andrea: "Thank you for reading to our class. I really like the story by Anna Harwell Celenza. I don't really read stories that are scary books, so it was nice to read something different. I liked the sound of the music." Julia: "Thank you so much for coming to my classroom. The book you read was really interesting. 'Rhapsody in Blue' was a book with a lot of rhythm in it. The song itself was awesome as well." There were other letters, and all thanked me. But I should be thanking the students; they proved that it'd be a mistake to sell students short. The experience also reinforced my belief that school boards and administrators make a huge mistake when the first things that they chop from school budgets in tight times are music and the arts. As the reception to this book about one of America's true musical geniuses shows, music is not fluff, but precisely the kind of subject that needs to be taught in schools. LARRY KESSLER is a Sun Chronicle local news editor. He can be reached at 508-236-0330 or at lkessler@thesunchronicle.com.