BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL, MS - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Scott Joplin loved music - even as a baby, his eyes would light up when he heard it. As a young boy, he went with his mother to help with laundry and dusting at the house where she was a maid. They had a piano and Scott could play it once all his chores were done. He made up music to match every chore. Soon, his mother was trading housework for piano lessons, and Scott was on his way - writing his own music and playing from the heart. When he was a young man, he headed north to Chicago and started playing Ragtime, his song "Maple Leaf Rag" was a hit.
There's a lot to love about this short biography. I love the onomatopoeia bumpa-bump, clickety-clackety, plinkety-PLONK! and Costanza's illustrations are perfect - with energy and movement - I can just hear Joplin playing that piano. A more thorough biography is included in the author's note, along with a "recommended listening" list and a bibliography.
Lisa Librarian
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