The Piano

July 1, 2000
Gr 2-5-At the beginning of the 20th century, young Tia enjoys roaming free in her safe African-American section of a small Southern community. When she wanders into the white section of town, she is enchanted by a new and beautiful sound coming from a large mansion. Thinking that she has come for a maid's job, a young handyman invites the girl in and introduces her to Miss Hartwell, the elderly resident. Smitten by the music, Tia agrees to take the job and is awed by the shiny grand piano in the parlor. The two become fond of one another and Miss Hartwell agrees to teach the girl to play. Tia soothes Miss Hartwell's arthritic fingers using a remedy learned at home, and the woman returns the favor when Tia's hands become sore from heavy work. The bond between the two is developed naturally and never seems forced or out of place. The oil paintings reinforce the mood of the story. The street scenes and the typically furnished wealthy home of the period are depicted in detail. The characters are brought to life and Tia's warm, open innocence is evident in the expressive artwork. This is a gentle story depicting a friendship that crosses age and racial barriers.-Marlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL

Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2000
Ages 5^-8. "Tia loved music. The sound of a blues guitar or a child singing made her feel wonderful inside" begins this warm-hearted story set in the segregated South of the early 1900s. One day on the street, Tia hears music spilling from a house and stops to listen. Assuming she has come for a maid's job, a servant boy brings her inside and introduces her to the home's owner, an elderly woman. As Tia, entranced, listens to the music in the next room, she agrees to take on cleaning work. Over time, the elderly woman teaches Tia to play the piano after she has worked, and a sweet understanding develops between the two music lovers. The best part of this simple, optimistic story of interracial, intergenerational friendship is the care that Tia and the older woman share, soothing each other's aches and pains at the piano. Illustrated with broadly stroked, brightly colored paintings, this will work well for story hours or lap sharing. ((Reviewed July 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2000
Following the sound of a record player, music-loving African-American Tia finds herself at the home of an elderly white woman who owns a piano she can no longer play. Little conflict results in a gentle but less-than-plausible story of friendship. The characters are expressive but inconsistently depicted in the illustrations, which set the story at the turn of the century.

(Copyright 2000 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)