The Little Piano Girl

December 14, 2009
In this biography of jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams, sisters Ingalls (a newcomer) and Macdonald (Copycat Costume
) record the trials of an African-American child who migrates from Atlanta to Pittsburgh, and the joy music offers her. Life in Pittsburgh is hard: neighbors throw bricks through their windows, and Mary has to borrow her mother’s too-small shoes for the first day of school. “Ugly names and cruel words... Mary called them 'bad sounds,’ and she taught herself to play them out.” Her family and friends recognize and appreciate her gifts, though, and Mary soon witnesses the effects of her music. “When Mary cut loose, people couldn’t stay still.... Her blue notes made people want to cry at just how hard life can be. Her crazy chords made people shimmy their shoulders and shake their heads.” Potter’s (The Boy Who Loved Words
) folk art–style gouache paintings provide a vivid portrait of industrial Pittsburgh at the beginning of the 20th century, yet have an iconic quality, too. Ingalls and Macdonald provide a touching memorial to a jazz great who is not a household name—a valuable contribution. Ages 6–9.

March 1, 2010
Gr 1-5-Based on the life of an African-American jazz legend, this appealing story offers insight into the making of a musician. At age three, Mary amazes her mother, a church organist, by playing back a tune as she sits on her lap. When the family moves from Atlanta to Pittsburgh during World War I, they must leave the organ behind, but that doesn't stop Mary from hearing music in her head. When a woman from church invites her in for some ice cream, the child can't help but notice the piano, and when Lucille requests a tune, once again Mary amazes. "Soon people were paying her to play]as much as fifty cents!" At school, Mary's teacher asks her to play marches: "sometimes she slipped a boogie beat in]. The children stopped marching and danced on the stairs." "The little piano girl" gradually makes a name for herself in town. An afterword explains how Williams, who was also a composer and arranger, influenced the careers of male jazz greats "long before feminism was even a word." By focusing on her childhood, the authors make a little-known life both accessible and entertaining for young readers. The only flaw in the text occurs when the family encounters unwelcoming neighbors in Pittsburgh with little or no explanation for their cruel treatment of the newcomers. Potter's signature gouache illustrationsfrom the period clothing and expressive faces to the whimsical music in the airhit the perfect note."Barbara Auerbach, PS 217, Brooklyn, NY"

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