Author Statement

Where the Music Lives: A Poetic Fable

While living and working in Kabul, I was connected to a research library system that circulated books to communities across Afghanistan and provinces far beyond the capital. Through this collaboration, I was asked to write a book about music. Something that would travel.

It was a harder task than it sounds. In some communities, music was not a welcome guest, and especially not at a stranger's door. Even those who privately enjoyed music might never allow their families to practice it, or at the very least, not openly admit to it. So the question was not simply what to write about music, but how to approach music at all: with care, with respect, and without imposing a point of view.

I saw a pathway from my work with young musicians and students. One question I was asked often — quietly, sincerely, often in secret from their peers — was: "Why is music bad?"

That question deserved more than a simple answer. It became a story.

The Adventures of Bunny follows a small, curious rabbit who wakes one morning to birdsong and sets off to find Where the Music Lives. Along the way, Bunny meets Turtle, who carries rhythm in the curve of the shell; Cat, whose long neck and whiskers mirror the strings of a Dutar; and Fish, whose breath through the riverside reeds echoes the ancient Tula and Ney. Each creature holds a piece of music within its own body, within nature itself, without knowing it. They all point Bunny toward the Ancient Tree, waiting at the far side of a mountain, where it unveils a very special instrument carved from the earth, rooted in the land, speaking the ancient song.

The book does not argue that music is good. It does not need to. Instead, it begins where lessons often began: with the sounds of the natural world. Birdsong. Wind. Water. Stillness. These sounds are shared, recognizable, and safe. From there, the story reveals what has always been true: that musical instruments have their origins in nature, in percussive shells, hollowed reeds, and wooden frames, and that music, before it was ever performed, was simply listened for.

The text is written in verse, with rhythmic patterns that shift to match each character and scene, pausing with stillness, bouncing with excitement, slowing into the silence of a mountain at dusk. For those who read aloud, the breath and vibration of speech become music themselves. Woven throughout are leitmotifs and echoes that reward close listening, just as the story rewards close reading.

The illustrations are hand-painted miniatures by Afghan artist Kaihan Hamidi, whose work bridges traditional Persian painting traditions with contemporary imagination. Every page is a world unto itself, in the tradition of the miniature paintings that once conveyed entire epics to travelers and those who could not read, capturing whole stories in a single image.

The book was not finished in time to be shared within Afghanistan before the fall of Kabul. But its questions have only grown more urgent. In a world where boundaries and restrictions on musical and personal expression continue to shift and deepen, this story asks something simple and essential: Where does your music live?

It is a book for children and for anyone who has ever searched for something they already carry within.

Bring This Story to Your Community

The Adventures of Bunny is available as a reading, a talk, or a paired music-and-storytelling performance. Robin presents the book in schools, at festivals, in universities, and at cultural events, exploring the questions it carries about music, belonging, human rights, and the courage to listen. For booking inquiries, please get in touch.