Illustrator: Rafael López
Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers on August 27, 2019
Genres: Picture Book, Biography
Pages: 40
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
The story of Teresa Carreño, a child prodigy who played piano for Abraham Lincoln.
As a little girl, Teresa Carreño loved to let her hands dance across the beautiful keys of the piano. If she felt sad, music cheered her up, and when she was happy, the piano helped her share that joy. Soon she was writing her own songs and performing in grand cathedrals. Then a revolution in Venezuela forced her family to flee to the United States. Teresa felt lonely in this unfamiliar place, where few of the people she met spoke Spanish. Worst of all, there was fighting in her new home, too—the Civil War.
Still, Teresa kept playing, and soon she grew famous as the talented Piano Girl who could play anything from a folk song to a sonata. So famous, in fact, that President Abraham Lincoln wanted her to play at the White House! Yet with the country torn apart by war, could Teresa’s music bring comfort to those who needed it most?
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Dancing Hands tells the story of musical prodigy Teresa Carreño as she discovers her love and gift for music, grows in skill and renown, and eventually plays at the White House for Abraham Lincoln. The narrative can be broken roughly into two parts: (1) her childhood in Venezuela, learning to play the piano and compose her own songs, and (2) her journey in the States, finding a place for herself through music and growing in fame as the Piano Girl. Images of war thread through both halves, as Carreño’s family flees one war only to find themselves a country broken apart by civil war. Music gives her comfort, community, and hope. Her story shows how music unites people across class, culture, and age groups, to give hope in the midst of darkness. Beautiful, poetic language give shape to the music of Carreño’s dancing hands through vivid verbs and lush similes that bloom across the page, made all the more magical through vibrant illustrations.
Dancing Hands is also available in Spanish! For more information, check out the publisher’s website.
When Angels Sing by Michael MahinIllustrator: Jose Ramirez
Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers on September 4, 2018
Genres: Picture Book, Biography
Pages: 48
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Carlos Santana loved to listen to his father play el violín. It was a sound that filled the world with magic and love and feeling and healing—a sound that made angels real. Carlos wanted to make angels real, too. So he started playing music.
Carlos tried el clarinete and el violín, but there were no angels. Then he picked up la guitarra. He took the soul of the Blues, the brains of Jazz, and the energy of Rock and Roll, and added the slow heat of Afro-Cuban drums and the cilantro-scented sway of the music he’d grown up with in Mexico. There were a lot of bands in San Francisco but none of them sounded like this. Had Carlos finally found the music that would make his angels real?
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
When Angels Sing explores rock legend Carlos Santana’s journey as a musician from his birth in Jalisco, Mexico, to his family’s move to San Francisco, to his career-making performance at Woodstock. Everywhere he goes, music saturates his life. Music rolls with the words and off the pages, inundating the senses through onomatopoeia and sensate images that connect Santana’s sound with his roots. Even when he is playing hide-and-seek with his siblings, even when he washes pots and mops floors, even when it seems hate and fear have covered the world in darkness, music offers healing and light. Bold, vivid illustrations accentuate moments of pain, loneliness, and triumph. Threaded throughout the narrative is the motif of angels singing, linking the events of Santana’s life and emphasizing his persistence to make it as a musician. It is a tribute also to Santana’s belief that “we each carry the spark of the divine within us and that we each, in our own way, have the power to heal the world” (author’s note).
When Angels Sing is also available in Spanish! For more information, check out the publisher’s website.
What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? by Chris BartonIllustrator: Ekua Holmes
Published by Beach Lane Books on September 25, 2018
Genres: Picture Book, Biography
Pages: 48
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Even as a child growing up in the Fifth Ward of Houston, Texas, Barbara Jordan stood out for her big, bold, booming, crisp, clear, confident voice. It was a voice that made people sit up, stand up, and take notice.
So what do you do with a voice like that?
Barbara took her voice to places few African American women had been in the 1960s: first law school, then the Texas state senate, then up to the United States congress. Throughout her career, she persevered through adversity to give voice to the voiceless and to fight for civil rights, equality, and justice.
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? traces Barbara Jordan’s life from her childhood in Houston, Texas, to her role as a Congresswoman, to her work in education. The titular question drives the narrative, showing how Jordan discovered her voice and used it to speak up for justice, equality, and trust. Vibrant, colorful images animate Jordan’s life, teeming with hope and possibilities. Even when multiple sclerosis breaks down her body, and she returns home to Texas, she finds a place for her voice, in education, teaching students to put their voices to public use. And now, through her story, Chris Barton (author) and Ekua Holmes (illustrator) invite a new generation to remember and honor Jordan’s legacy by making our voices heard.
What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? is also available in Spanish! For more information, check out the publisher’s website.
Discussion Questions
- How did Teresa Carreño, Carlos Santana, and Barbara Jordan use their gifts and passions to offer hope and light during dark times?
- How did they model perseverance in the face of obstacles?
- Thinking of a person that you admire. How do they use their gifts and passions for others? How do they model perseverance?
- Think of a time when you encountered an obstacle. How did you show perseverance? Is there an obstacle you’re currently facing where you might show perseverance?
- What are your gifts and passions? How can you use them to bring someone comfort, or to speak up for others?
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