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In a ravaged, war-torn city, where heat must come from burning furniture and even cherished books, where even the relief truck is destroyed by enemy fire, how can people find hope? In this powerfully evocative picture book, one little girl discovers the answer.

Mr. O is a crotchety old man. The heroine of this story and her friends like to tease him--they run in the halls, making noise, and they pop paper bags outside his door. But every Wednesday afternoon, when the relief truck used to bring flour and other staples, Mr. O marches into the square, sits down, and begins to play his cello. It's not until the Wednesday when a bomb again hits the square that the little girl realizes what Mr. O has been trying to teach them all: that music--and courage--can sustain the spirit just as bread sustains the body.

这是一个发生在战火中以音乐抚慰人心的故事。
　　男人都去参战了，陷入围城困境的妇孺老少，食物不足，缺水缺电，度日如年。星期三救济车的出现，成为人们唯一相聚交谈的场合，点燃了他们心中微亮的希望。
　　述说这故事的小女孩儿不满大人之间的战争，她无时无刻不愤怒，但也只能苦中作乐，自我调节。她和其他孩子有时在走廊上奔跑、吵闹，捉弄不甚合群的邻居大提琴家欧先生。从父亲口中，她知道，他曾有过辉煌的往昔，身边拥有一把“最好的大提琴”。它的每一个部分都来自不同的国家，需要全世界共同合作才能做得出来。
　　我们知道，有一类儿童文学作品一开始时，故事中的主角需要逐渐认识——现实中孩子也往往对成人有某种误会，随着了解的加深才逐渐化解。正如这篇故事里最初小女孩儿认为欧先生孤傲、不合群。然而，当配给卡车惨遭炸毁，人们陷入集体性伤痛时，欧先生挺身而出，在星期三的下午出现在广场上，用大提琴演奏巴赫的音乐，给大家带来勇气和力量，小女孩儿渐渐对欧先生产生了深深的敬意。