You remember. A stone mountain in the midst of a desert receives a visit from a tiny migrating bird and begs her to stay. Impossible. The mountain affords no food or water. Yet the bird promises to return each spring, establishing a pattern for generations in perpetuity. Alice McLerran’s crystalline parable The Mountain That Loved a Bird, published in 1985 with illustrations by Eric Carle, is retold in music by the Pulitzer Prize–winning Caroline Shaw, with animation by the Graphic Arts and Media Technology students at the Truckee Meadows Community College. Kudos to the San Diego Symphony for organizing such imaginative family fare (the target age range for kids is 6 to 12). The balance of the program includes treats by Lili Boulanger, Manuel de Falla, Maurice Ravel, and finally John Williams, who puts the cherry on the cake with the Flying Theme from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. —Matthew Gurewitsch