Hallelujah: The Story of Leonard Cohen

"Moving...captures the joyfully quotidian spirit of the musician's work." —Publisher's Weekly

"A valentine to Cohen and all artistry, this book reminds older readers to look within and may inspire children to aim high with their own gifts." —School Library Journal

"Appropriate for school or public library collections...emphasizing the arts." —Association of Jewish Libraries

Writer and musician Alicia Jo Rabins makes her picture book debut with this biography of Leonard Cohen and the creation of his masterpiece "Hallelujah" through continued persistence, belief, and dedication.

Leonard Cohen was surrounded by music. His mother would sing folk songs in Yiddish and Russian. The synagogue where his grandfather was rabbi sounded like the gates of Heaven opening. And Leonard's heart turned the beauty of the world into music only he could hear.

But there was also sadness. How could life contain so much joy and also so much sorrow? Leonard wondered if there was a way to capture all those feelings at once.

He learned to play the guitar. He wrote songs. As a musician, people would come to see him perform. But there was still something missing. A song, hidden inside of him. One that he believed in, even when he struggled to write it or when others didn't understand it. And now, "Hallelujah" lives in all our hearts.

An author's note asks readers to consider what their Hallelujah is, and encourages them to share their talents and joys with the world.

"Pendon’s cover art for this glimpse of the man and career of Leonard Cohen widens the hole in the middle of a vinyl record to spotlight the subject’s long-faced profile, hat back on his head, arms cradling the guitar he was seldom without. This charming picture will pull readers into the page to find out more: such a mournful face is provocatively juxtaposed with the declaration, “Hallelujah!” Endpapers show a photorealistic portrait of Cohen pasted like a movie poster on a wall but actually against a backdrop of city buildings; it’s the mural the illustrator spearheaded, honoring Cohen in Montreal where he was born. Raised in a house full of music on Shabbat and in the synagogue where his grandfather was a rabbi, the boy was fascinated when he came across a gentleman in the park playing Spanish guitar. “Can you teach me?” He became a songwriter but was nagged by the feeling that one song containing the one thing he needed to say lingered within him. Back matter provides more details about his life and the mural project. This is the right treatment to pique children’s interest into knowing or finding out more; the author’s language is sentimental but sincere, while the graphic novel-like art in spreads of city scenes and stage scenes are atmospheric and bold. Rabins, also a musician, has offered a link where she performs her cover of the titular song. VERDICT A valentine to Cohen and all artistry, this book reminds older readers to look within and may inspire children to aim high with their own gifts."

—School Library Journal

"Centering the now well-known song 'Hallelujah,' Rabins and Pendon movingly recount the life of Canadian Jewish musician Leonard Cohen (1934-2016). Early pages frame Cohen as a deep-feeling youth from a musical family, and text carefully draws on the subject's lyrics to characterize his musical awakening ("From that day on, Leonard wrote songs about the world around him—about waking up with messy hair, about seeing a bird perched on a wire"). Plotting moves quickly to Cohen's professional success, and pages proceed to zero in on the protagonist's forbearance in connection with the completion of 'Hallelujah'—a tune about 'how life is as mysterious as a secret chord.' Though the song is initially rejected by Cohen's record company, it slowly finds its way 'inside hearts all over the world.' Acoustic guitars abound in loose cartoon portraits, which capture the joyfully quotidian spirit of the musician's work. An author's note and further biographical information conclude. Ages 5-8."

—Publisher's Weekly

"This biography of poet, singer, and songwriter Leonard Cohen for young readers emphasizes the influences on his creativity and his dedication to finding the perfect lyrics for his songs. The narrative mentions his growing up in a Jewish family in Montreal, the grandson of a rabbi, and his early exposure to Hebrew prayers and Yiddish folksongs. Later, everything around him, from birds to tea and oranges to observing sorrow and loneliness would figure into his music.

The narrative focuses on the years he worked on the song Hallelujah and how important the song was to him. The book notes how initially the song was rejected by Cohen’s record company, and how it was universally adopted, used memorably in films and television shows and translated into several languages, after it was covered by 'a musician named Jeff' (the endnotes mention the covers by John Cale in 1991 and Jeff Buckley in 1994). This title offers an introduction not only to Cohen and the creative process, but to the music industry and how songs are marketed.

The illustrations beautifully capture the spirit of the man and his music. Pendon is noted as spearheading the twenty-one story mural of Cohen on a Montreal building, and the cityscape with the mural makes up the book’s stunning endpapers.

Hallelujah! complements the biography of Cohen from the Little People, BIG DREAMS series by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara (Frances Lincoln, 2024), which gives a more general background to his life and work. It is appropriate for most school or public library collections, especially larger libraries, those in Jewish elementary schools, and those emphasizing the arts."

—Association of Jewish Libraries