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Summary
Summary
Illustrated by Susan Keeter. Set in the early 1900s, this is the story of a young black girl whose white employer teaches her how to play the piano and how their mutual love of music rewards them with a friendship that transcends both age and race. Illustrated throughout in full-colour. Ages 4 and upwards.
Author Notes
William Miller is the award-winning author of numerous books for children for LEE & LOW (see full list to the right). Mr. Miller lives in York, Pennsylvania, where he teaches African American literature and creative writing at York College.
Susan Keeter studied fine art and illustration at Syracuse University. Her paintings have appeared in children's magazines and she has illustrated several books and stories for educational publishers. Ms. Keeter lives in Syracuse, New York, with her husband and their daughter. The Piano is her first book for Lee & Low.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
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 (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in the early 1900s, Miller's (Night Golf) ultimately tender story opens on an unconvincing note. Tia, an African-American girl, loves music so much that "when she heard music, she forgot where she lived, how old she was, and where she went to school." One steamy summer day, walking through the white section of town in search of "new sounds, different music," she hears a melody that makes her think of "castles, mountains, and deep new snow." Fortunately, the author drops the hyperbole and flowery language as his story takes a more credible turn: Tia accepts a job as maid to the woman whose house is the source of the tantalizing music. Miss Hartwell has a piano as well as a phonograph and agrees to teach Tia notes and scales. Her hands, however, are painfully stiff. Tia offers to rub them with warm, salty water, as she does for her mother who works in the cotton mill. In an ending that just barely avoids the overly sentimental, Tia's employer returns the favor when the girl's own fingers ache after a day of heavy housework. Though some portraits of characters are wooden, Keeter's (I'm a Girl) oil paintings for the most part capture the deepening bond between these unlikely friends. Ages 4-up. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
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. From HORN BOOK Fall 2000, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In this gentle story set in the early 1900s, music brings a young African-American girl and an elderly white woman together. Tia searches for the sounds of music as she wanders the streets of her southern town during the summer while her parents work. One day, in the white section of town she hears a recording that transports her to a place of castles and snow. She meets Johnny, who mistakenly thinks she has come about a maid's job. Tia agrees to meet the woman of the house, who is willing to hire the young girl. Tia works hard and shows interest in learning to play the piano. Miss Hartwell, despite her stiff hands, begins to teach her. Miller (Night Golf, 1999, etc.) lightly touches on segregation and contrasts Tia's caring attitude toward Miss Hartwell to Johnny's--"All white people's money is the same. I don't care which I get it from"--but the story emphasizes a relationship that transcends age and class. Keeter's oil paintings enhance the gentle mood. Two-page spreads make space for the pictures to illustrate the text and expand the setting. A scene showing Tia dancing to the music of a blues guitar in front of a general store also gives a picture of the poor part of town. Interior scenes of Miss Hartwell's house give a sense of a well-to-do residence, while close ups of Tia and Miss Hartwell show the growing love between the two. A lovely book with an understated message. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
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. --Gillian Engberg
