A Tuba Christmas

By Helen L. Wilbur, Mary Reaves Uhles (Illustrator)

Ava chooses the tuba, but can she find her place in the holiday concert?

3.8/5 Goodreads · 99 ratings

32 pages

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Bookroo's summary

Ava's family is a symphony of musicians, each with their chosen instrument. When it's Ava's turn, she surprises everyone by picking the tuba. But mastering it proves challenging, and there's no spot for a tuba in the family concert. With her music teacher's support, Ava must find a way to make her tuba shine in a special holiday celebration. Will Ava's unique choice bring harmony or discord to her musical family?

From the publisher

With a family that loves music as much as hers does, it was only a matter of time before it was Ava’s turn to pick out an instrument. Her mother plays the piano, her father plays the violin, and one brother plays the cello while the other plays the clarinet. As soon as Ava selects an instrument, she will be able to join them as they practice for the annual holiday concert. And her family has definite ideas on what instrument Ava should select, from the piano to the flute to the violin. But Ava isn’t interested in any of them. Ava wants to play the tuba. And she gets her wish. But playing the tuba isn’t as easy as it seems. And there is no place for a tuba in the annual concert. But with the encouragement of her music teacher, Ava finds a place for her and her tuba in a special holiday celebration.

At a glance

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 32
Reading age: 5–7
Audience: Picture
Lexile: 560L

Themes & topics

Books about Christmas Books about music Books about holidays Books about family Books about concerts

Good to know

Stories behind the story

What guides or references did you use while creating the illustrations for A Tuba Christmas?

I looked at about 4 million pictures of tubas. I also did several studies of kids playing tuba while visiting my son's 6th grade band class. The concert scene in the book was redrawn from scratch 3 times, the last time while attending one of their band concerts! By Mary Uhles (illustrator)

What was the hardest part about creating A Tuba Christmas?

Besides getting the tuba correct I also created a very specific color palette for this book. I had been experimenting with limited color in single illustrations but this was the first book I had tried it. I ended up with 7 colors and every color you see in the book was created by blending one of those. By Mary Uhles (illustrator)

What is your favorite thing about Rodney?

Rodney is not quite the main character in the book but he is my favorite character. He is Ava's teacher and the only person who believes in her tuba dreams. Rodney is also not afraid to march to his own tune.... he wears dreadlocks and is the person who starts the Tuba Christmas tradition in Ava's school. By Mary Uhles (illustrator)

For readers who can't stop at one