<I>It was a day when Max didn't feel like talking to anyone. He just sat on his front steps and watched the clouds gather in the sky. <BR>A strong breeze shook the tree in front of his house, and Max saw two heavy twigs fall to the ground.</I> <BR>So begins this story of a young boy's introduction to the joys of making music. <BR>Max picks up the sticks and begins tapping out the rhythms of everything he sees and hears around him . . . the sound of pigeons startled into flight, of rain against the windows, of distant church bells and the rumble of a subway. And then, when a marching band rounds Max's corner, something wonderful happens. <BR>Brian Pinkney's rhythmic text and lively pictures are certain to get many a child's foot tapping, many a youngster drumming.