The Singer and the Scientist

  • Interest Level: Kindergarten - Grade 5
  • Reading Level: Grade 3

It’s 1937, and Marian Anderson is one of the most famous singers in America. But after she gives a performance for an all-white audience, she learns that the nearby hotel is closed to African Americans. She doesn’t know where she’ll stay for the night.

Until the famous scientist Albert Einstein invites her to stay at his house. Marian, who endures constant discrimination as a Black performer, learns that Albert faced prejudice as a Jew in Germany. She discovers their shared passion for music—and their shared hopes for a more just world.

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Interest Level Kindergarten - Grade 5
Reading Level Grade 3
Genre Social Studies
Category 5 Kinds of Nonfiction, 5KN: Narrative Nonfiction, Diverse Books: Race & Ethnicity, Diversity, SEL: C Social Awareness, SEL: D Relationship Skills, Social Emotional Learning
Copyright 2021
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Imprint Kar-Ben Publishing ®
Language English
Number of Pages 32
Publication Date 2021-04-01
Text Type Narrative Nonfiction
BISACS JNF025210, JNF053140, JNF069000
Dewey 782.0092 [B]
Dimensions 9.25 x 11
Lexile 750
Features Author/Illustrator note, Awards, Bibliography/further reading, Reviewed, Teaching Guides, and eSource

Author: Lisa Rose

Lisa Rose lives near Detroit, Michigan. She likes to swim, practice yoga, and eat ice cream, but not at the same time. Her previous books include Shmulik Paints the Town.

Illustrator: Isabel Muñoz

Isabel Muñoz is an artist and a children's book illustrator. She is a Fine Arts graduate from Universidad Complutense of Madrid, Spain. Isabel works from a tiny colorful studio in the north of Spain.

Lerner eSource™ offers free digital teaching and learning resources, including Common Core State Standards (CCSS) teaching guides. These guides, created by classroom teachers, offer short lessons and writing exercises that give students specific instruction and practice using Common Core skills and strategies. Lerner eSource also provides additional resources including online activities, downloadable/printable graphic organizers, and additional educational materials that would also support Common Core instruction. Download, share, pin, print, and save as many of these free resources as you like!

The Singer and the Scientist

It’s 1937, and Marian Anderson is one of the most famous singers in America. But after she gives a performance for an all-white audience, she learns that the nearby hotel is closed to African Americans. She doesn’t know where she’ll stay for the night. Until the… View available downloads →

Awards

  • Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year, Winner, 2022
  • Bank Street School of Education Best Children's Books of the Year, Winner, 2022
  • Children's Picture Book Finalist, Commended, 2021

Reviews

Moment Magazine

Bonds forged in the United States between Jews and non-Jews—particularly non-Jewish Black Americans—underlie two other recent picture books. The Singer and The Scientist (by Lisa Rose with illustrations by Isabel Muñoz) spotlights the friendship between Marian Anderson (1897-1993), the pathbreaking Black opera singer, and Albert Einstein (1879-1955), the celebrated Jewish physicist who found refuge from Nazi Germany in the United States. In 1937, Anderson was denied hotel accommodations after a performance in Princeton, New Jersey, so Einstein hosted her in his home. The book is grounded in this origin story, and it offers a moving portrait of the friendship between these famous figures, who both faced different kinds of prejudice. This title was also named a National Jewish Book Award finalist.

Historical Novel Society

“Rose’s choice of wording is both melodic and rhythmic for reading aloud, and themes of doing what is right and showing kindness makes The Singer and the Scientist a current and fulfilling addition to any library.” — Dorothy Schwab, Historical Novel Society

Jewish Book Council

“This high­ly rec­om­mend­ed sto­ry includes an infor­ma­tive author’s note about the social activism of the book’s subjects.” — Emily Schneider, Jewish Book Council

AJL Newsletter

“Without self-consciousness, The Singer and the Scientist recreates a time when these two communities worked together towards common goals.” — Marian Grann, retired teacher, co-author (with Janet Willen) of Five Thousand Years of Slavery and Speak a Word for Freedom: Women Against Slavery, (Tundra), Toronto, Canada, AJL Newsletter