"I sound like a terrible person saying this, but it really was important to me that when Jake first read this book, he was crying at the end of it," Sullivan said.

"Jake" is Jake Krack, a young award-winning fiddle player. The picture book, scheduled for release on May 10, focuses on the relationship between a young fiddle player like him and his mentor, based on longtime fiddle player Melvin Wine, who died in 2003.

In a lengthy author's note, Sullivan wrote that the book is "inspired by the true story of two celebrated musicians," but Sullivan says the story is almost completely theirs.

"It's almost exact," she said. "The only things that were made up were the two dogs greeting Jake and his dad when they went out to Melvin's house.

"And Jake says there was at least one dog there, so that's partly right too."

The story of the first meeting between the old man and the boy is a faithful retelling of Melvin and Jake's first meeting at the annual Appalachian String Band Music Festival in Clifftop, Fayette County, Sullivan said.

At least one line from that meeting, she said, is directly quoted in the book: the old man telling the boy, "You got to start with a spin and end with a skid."

Originally, Sullivan intended the story to be almost entirely about the aged fiddler, with the boy making a cameo appearance at the end. She worked on the story and, in 2005, submitted it to her editor -- who wasn't completely happy with it.

"She said, 'That's a lovely story,'" but the editor wondered how much children would relate to it, without any children in the book. "'Why don't you tell the story of the boy?'"

That might seem frustrating, but Sullivan wonders if she could have come to her finished story any other way.

"This is true, I think, so much of writing: you have to tell the story to yourself first," she said. "And so I probably needed to tell Melvin's story, because it's a big part ... of Jake's story."

Sullivan began writing the book nearly 10 years ago. As strange as it may seem, she says the idea for the story arose partly from the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001.

"We were all caught up with wondering what survives, what endures," she said. "Here was a living example of something doing just that."

To that end, Sullivan tried to connect the story to the natural world, matching the changing seasons to the music festivals where the two played.

"Seedlings dot the ground

when they fiddle down in Charleston.

Bees nuzzle honeysuckle

when they jam up at Glenville.

Frost stiffens hay bales

when they teach out at Elkins."

Sullivan's words in the book have a singsong rhythm. "I ended up thinking of it almost as a sort of ballad," she said. The book's title -- "passing the music down" -- serves as a sort of refrain.

The book was illustrated by Pennsylvania artist Barry Root, whom Sullivan had never worked with before. Her publisher, Candlewick Press, chose him for the book -- standard practice at most children's publishers, although Candlewick gives their authors more input than many others, she said.

Sullivan is an ex-lawyer who has written three previous children's books: "Root Beer and Banana," "Dear Baby: Letters from Your Big Brother" and "Once Upon a Baby Brother."

She grew up in a musical household. Her mother had a classical music background, and her West Virginia-born father loved traditional music. "So I guess I grew up with both," she said. "There was always music, we were always singing."

She's learned to play the dulcimer a little bit. She admitted she's no expert, but when she reads "Passing the Music Down" to children in schools and elsewhere, she wants to be able to play them a little bit of music to help them connect with the story.

"I've been encouraged because people who might not normally know about true old-time music have expressed an interest," she said.

Her original idea for this book came from a 2002 photograph by Chip Ellis in the Charleston Daily Mail, of Melvin Wine playing his fiddle. In the first version of the story, the opening line -- which didn't make the final cut -- was "In his red plaid shirt, with his hands gnarled from working, Melvin Wine played his fiddle with a long bow arm."

But the story changed, becoming less about the old man and more about the young boy who grows into a man. The boy's family moves closer to the old man. They spend time not just playing music, but working on the farm and in the garden.

"He wasn't just his music teacher," Sullivan said of Melvin and Jake. "He taught him how to be a man. He taught him about life."

And Jake's reaction to the book? She said, "He's thrilled."

Reach Greg Moore at gmo...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1211.