How Teresa Carreno Played the Piano for President Lincoln
by Margarita Engle
and Rafael Lopez
Flap Copy Description:
As a little girl, Teresa Carreno loved to let her hands dance across the beautiful keys of the piano. If she felt sad, music cheered her, and when she was happy, the piano helped her share that joy. Soon she was writing her own songs and performing in grand cathedrals.
Then a revolution in Venezuela drove her family to flee to the United States. Teresa felt lonely in this unfamiliar place, where few of the people she met spoke Spanish. Worst of all, there was fighting in her new home, too - a Civil War.
Still, Teresa kept playing, and soon she grew famous as the talented Piano Girl who could play anything from a folk song to a sonata. So famous, in fact, that President Abraham Lincoln wanted her to play at the White House! Yet with the country torn apart by war, could Teresa's music bring comfort to those who needed it most?
My Thoughts:
This beautiful picture book is the winner of the Pura Belpre Award - and no wonder: Margarita Engle's text tells the inspirational true story about a determined young Latino girl, and the book is wonderfully illustrated by Rafael Lopez. I found the book extraordinary with its setting in both Venezuela and the U.S. during the Civil War, and even including President Abraham Lincoln. I highly recommend Dancing Hands to readers aged four to ten! (Piano teachers would love it too!)
Click here to learn about the award-winning author, Margarita Engle.
Click here to learn about the award-winning illustrator, Rafael Lopez.
