Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow - ADVISABLE

Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow. PICTURE BOOK BIOGRAPHY Doubleday Books for Young Readers. 2023. $19. 9780593571064 

BUYING ADVISORY:  EL (K-3), EL - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Little Rosetta loved music. Her mother sang and played the mandolin. Every week the people of Cotton Plant, Arkansas joined together to sing and shout. Rosetta would dance, clap, and sing to the beat. When she was three years old, her mother gave her a guitar. She listened to all the noises in her town and tried to make the sounds on her guitar. She also learned notes and tunes and mastered the guitar by age 6. When she was still very young she had her first performance at her church’s anniversary. As she got older she traveled the world bringing the music of her small country church right along with her. She struggled with racism as a black woman guitarist, but was able to make a record. No one could make a guitar talk like Sister Rosetta. She became known as Sister Rosetta Tharpe: The Godmother of Rock and Roll.

Little Rosetta brings to light the black musical artist who actually invented Rock and Roll, and that Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and others were influenced by her music. Barlow captures perfectly the joy and sound of Rosetta's music through fun, expressive illustrations and text. Young readers will be inspired by Little Rosetta's persistence. 

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