Since her grandfather moved into the House of Music, a retirement home for musicians, Renata's Tuesdays spent visiting him are anything but relaxing. Her grandfather has fallen in love with a soprano who has a hundred wigs, the double bassist regularly runs away, a stray cat is trying to get adopted, and then there's this boy who runs around the house dressed as Batman, claiming that music sounds like noise to him. To make matters worse, her grandfather has sent her on a mission: Renata is to choose an instrument she wants to play to become a musician herself – just like everyone else in her family. But how does one decide between a piccolo and a tuba, between a synthesizer and drums, between a bassoon and a harp, between a cello and a ukulele? And what if she would rather do something completely different? What if the solution lies in not choosing at all? Inspired by the true story of Casa Verdi in Milan, a refuge for impoverished elderly musicians, which composer Giuseppe Verdi founded in 1889, this charming book tells of the quirky characters who are all united by their great love for music. Maddalena Vaglio Tanet (*1985) is a poet, novelist, and children's book author. After completing her PhD at Columbia University in New York in 2016, she now works as a literary scout alongside her writing career. Her poems have been published in Italian and German magazines, and her first novel, Tornare dal bosco, has been nominated for the Premio Strega 2023, the most prestigious literary award in Italy. Giovanni Colaneri (*1991) lives and works as an author and illustrator in Naples. He studied printmaking and illustration in Florence and Urbino, has illustrated several children's books, and works for international magazines and companies.