BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
8yo Anna Maria lives in an orphanage in Venice. Maestro Vivaldi hears her play her violin and invites her to join his Figlie del Coro. Anna Maria plays beautifully, but she also sees color as she hears the music. Receiving lessons and pointers from Vivaldi during the day, she dreams of the music as "rivers of colour" at night. He encourages her to paint a picture with her music. For inspiration, he takes to a gallery where they view Marco Ricci's painting of Spring Summer Winter and Fall. Vivaldi is inspired by the paintings to write his masterpiece The Four Seasons. Maybe Anna Maria will be in the group that gets to perform it.
Anna Maria & Maestro Vivaldi is a fictional story based on actual people. It is not known if Anna Maria had synesthesia, or if she was even involved with that particular composition, however, she was one of his students. Thisdale's illustrations are beautiful, I love how color was added to represent how Anna Maria saw the music, but especially loved how it belongs in the pictures, and doesn't look strange. Coates has included a preface that explains synesthesia. Although there were a couple of scenes that started abruptly (I thought I had turned 2 pages at a time) the story is engaging. AJ wanted to listen to "The Four Seasons" after we read Anna Maria and Maestro Vivaldi.
Lisa Librarian and AJ (age 7)
Thanks so much for reading and reviewing this book, which I worked on over a ten-year period:) Interestingly, in school visits, I find I'm sharing this one with students in grades 3 - 5 - there's a lot there to process. I'm so happy to have worked with Francois Thisdale as I've been a fan of his for many years. Cheers! Jan
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