The Notable Characters

The Notable Character's is a children's book that shows how empathy can be a healing ingredient in the aftermath of bitter rivalry and conflict. Set in the fictional Caribbean Island of Realla (pronounced Ree - all - ya), this story takes you through a typical day in the life of The Notable Characters; a musical and diverse group of five vibrant elementary and middle school students. They are challenged by The Rest family, a rival musical group. Each member in each group has equal importance despite their instrumentation. The audio book contains the music performed in the story and is available at Washentree for digital download.

The book is especially written and produced for kids in grades 4 through 8. Lenny Rountree is a music educator and independent recording artist who authored and illustrated the Notable Characters. He provides through narration and illustration, explanations of basic music terms and concepts, using character traits to educate about notes, rests and other common musical symbols. Theater companies may also be interested in "Swirl," a comical musical, based largely on the Notable Characters story. A great benefit of owning this book is that parents and teachers can repeatedly reference it for music theory literacy and engage their children and students respectively, in a fruitful discussion about empathy, diversity, inclusion, and conflict-resolution.