The Story
What if you loved music more than
anything? Suppose you had just learned to play the
piano. Imagine that your family has to move to a new
city and you have to leave your piano behind. People
don’t like you in the new city because of what you
look like. How will you make yourself feel better?
Mary Lou Williams, like Mozart, began
playing the piano when she was four; at eight she
became a professional musician. She wrote and arranged
music for Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Dizzy
Gillespie, and was one of the most powerful women in
jazz. This is the story of Mary Lou's childhood in
Pittsburgh, where she played the piano for anyone who
would listen.
(Houghton Mifflin, 2009)
What Readers
Say:
"The book is full of sounds - the
sound of the train taking her away from her home, the
thunder when she pounded on the keys, the rain when
she tapped them. The reader can feel Mary Lou's joy,
as they can feel her sadness at other times in her
young life. This is a book for not only children and
jazz aficionados, but for all music lovers who keep on
performing, learning, and playing against the odds."
- Trish Marx, New York
"The book was read to our group by the
author. I am ordering the book to have in my
library, because it is so uplifting. It is a
highly motivational story for young people (and
anyone). The story follows the amazing talent
and determination of a delightful little girl despite
the odds against her, and tells how she grew up to be
a great woman in the jazz world."
- Norman, Missouri
What Critics Say:
"Acknowledging Mary's long, worldwide
career as an elegant, accomplished performer "in
beautiful shoes," this sweet tribute neatly fills a
niche in the panoply of titles about jazz greats."
- Kirkus
"Potter's naive, doll-like figures, poised in their
slightly tipsy, extravagantly patterned domestic
settings, recall the mannered portraiture of the
colonial period. With a steadily growing collection of
picture books on jazz greats now available for the
story time set, it's nice to see a strong female
musician take her place on the shelves."
- Bulletin
About the Authors
Ann Ingalls and Maryann Macdonald are sisters and
lifelong music lovers. Ann lives in Kansas City, and
Maryann lives in New York. This is Ann's first book,
and Maryann's twenty-second.
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About Mary Lou Williams
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