The Green Piano

How Little Me Found Music

Illustrated by Hayden Goodman
Look inside
$18.99 US
RH Childrens Books | Anne Schwartz Books
24 per carton
On sale Jan 10, 2023 | 978-0-593-47987-2
Age 4-8 years
Reading Level: Lexile NP | Fountas & Pinnell P
Sales rights: World
This autobiographical picture book by the multiple Grammy Award-winning singer Roberta Flack recounts her childhood in a home surrounded by music and love: it all started with a beat-up piano that her father found in a junkyard, repaired, and painted green.

Growing up in a Blue Ridge mountain town, little Roberta didn't have fancy clothes or expensive toys...but she did have music. And she dreamed of having her own piano.

When her daddy spies an old, beat-up upright piano in a junkyard, he knows he can make his daughter's dream come true. He brings it home, cleans and tunes it, and paints it a grassy green. And soon the little girl has an instrument to practice on, and a new dream to reach for--one that will make her become a legend in the music industry.

Here is a lyrical picture book--perfect for aspiring piano players and singers--that shares an intimate look at Roberta Flack's family and her special connection to music.
★ “A moving testimonial to the effects of instilling a love of live music in childhood.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ "Flack and Bolden employ spare, matter-of-fact verse to share the story of this initial piano and the hope it represented." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "A warm, soulful picture book autobiography about a living legend that will inspire burgeoning artists to pursue their dreams no matter their circumstances." —School Library Journal, starred review

About

This autobiographical picture book by the multiple Grammy Award-winning singer Roberta Flack recounts her childhood in a home surrounded by music and love: it all started with a beat-up piano that her father found in a junkyard, repaired, and painted green.

Growing up in a Blue Ridge mountain town, little Roberta didn't have fancy clothes or expensive toys...but she did have music. And she dreamed of having her own piano.

When her daddy spies an old, beat-up upright piano in a junkyard, he knows he can make his daughter's dream come true. He brings it home, cleans and tunes it, and paints it a grassy green. And soon the little girl has an instrument to practice on, and a new dream to reach for--one that will make her become a legend in the music industry.

Here is a lyrical picture book--perfect for aspiring piano players and singers--that shares an intimate look at Roberta Flack's family and her special connection to music.

Praise

★ “A moving testimonial to the effects of instilling a love of live music in childhood.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ "Flack and Bolden employ spare, matter-of-fact verse to share the story of this initial piano and the hope it represented." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "A warm, soulful picture book autobiography about a living legend that will inspire burgeoning artists to pursue their dreams no matter their circumstances." —School Library Journal, starred review