A boy in an East African vil­lage grows up know­ing that his spe­cial role in life is to be a pro­tec­tor. When he saves his baby broth­er from a fire, and when he saves his lit­tle sis­ter from drown­ing, the vil­lage peo­ple sing his spe­cial song. Then one day in anger, he throws a stone at anoth­er boy and blinds him. When the com­mu­ni­ty sings his song, he apol­o­gizes, offers help, and the injured boy gets bet­ter. The authors men­tion that the sto­ry is based on an African fable, though they nev­er tell which one, and the book’s spir­i­tu­al mes­sage is rein­forced in a long note aimed at Chris­t­ian par­ents and care­givers. The sto­ry is plain­ly told, and the clear, real­is­tic water­col­ors show dai­ly life in the rur­al set­ting with­out exot­ic pic­turesque dress and tourist gim­mick­ry. The boy’s fail­ure and remorse will move young lis­ten­ers: the last pic­ture shows a white child, hand on his heart, lis­ten­ing for his own song.

2004