REVIEWS+

The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music

by Roberta Flack with Tonya Bolden (text) & narrated by Lynnette R. Freeman
Listening Library. Jul. 2023. 24p. $5. ISBN 9780593793237.
COPY ISBN
Gr 2-5–“Little Me” is pop legend Roberta Flack, who grew up in North Carolina, without “fancy-fine clothes, high-priced toys, or other richy-rich things.” What she had was music: her self-taught father played harmonica and piano, her mother the church organ. At “three, maybe four,” Flack was already performing at church, but she longed for a piano of her own. After the family’s move to Virginia, her father rescued an “old, ratty, beat-up, weather-worn, faded thing” from a DC junkyard and lovingly resurrected it into nine-year-old Roberta’s miraculous green piano, enabling her talents to flourish. “Grown-up me lived this dream!” The appended author’s note and career time line make illuminating additions.
VERDICT Lauded author Bolden assists Flack in telling her remarkable story; actor Freeman embodies their text, adapting her rich voice to “little me” of various ages, often over snippets of complementary music, from Beethoven to Flack’s own “Killing Me Softly.”
Reviewed by Terry Hong , Oct 01, 2023

Be the first reader to comment.

Comment Policy:
  • Be respectful, and do not attack the author, people mentioned in the article, or other commenters. Take on the idea, not the messenger.
  • Don't use obscene, profane, or vulgar language.
  • Stay on point. Comments that stray from the topic at hand may be deleted.
  • Comments may be republished in print, online, or other forms of media.
  • If you see something objectionable, please let us know. Once a comment has been flagged, a staff member will investigate.

RELATED 

BLOGS

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Biographies for Kids
by Betsy Bird
BLOGS

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Science and Nature Books for Kids
by Betsy Bird
BLOGS

The Sweetness Between Us | Review
by Johanna
BLOGS

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Gross Books for Kids
by Betsy Bird
BLOGS

How The Westing Game Was Won, a guest post by author Alyson Gerber
by Karen Jensen, MLS
BLOGS

Blake Laser | This Week’s Comics
by Lori Henderson
More
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?