The Green Piano, Roberta Flack
The Green Piano, Roberta Flack
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The Green Piano
How Little Me Found Music

Author: Roberta Flack, Tonya Bolden

Narrator: Lynnette R. Freeman

Unabridged: 23 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/04/2023

Synopsis

This autobiographical book by the multiple Grammy Award-winning singer Roberta Flack recounts her childhood in a home surrounded by music and love: it all started with a beat-up piano that her father found in a junkyard, repaired, and painted green.

Growing up in a Blue Ridge mountain town, little Roberta didn't have fancy clothes or expensive toys...but she did have music. And she dreamed of having her own piano.

When her daddy spies an old, beat-up upright piano in a junkyard, he knows he can make his daughter's dream come true. He brings it home, cleans and tunes it, and paints it a grassy green. And soon the little girl has an instrument to practice on, and a new dream to reach for--one that will make her become a legend in the music industry.

Here is a lyrical audiobook--perfect for aspiring piano players and singers--that shares an intimate look at Roberta Flack's family and her special connection to music.

About The Author

Legendary singer Roberta Flack was known for her number one singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song," "Feel Like Makin' Love," and "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You," two of her many duets with Donny Hathaway. She was the recipient of thirteen Grammy nominations, four of which she won, as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She passed away in 2025 at the age of 88.Tonya Bolden is the award-winning author/co-author/editor of more than two dozen books for young people. They include Finding Family, which was a Kirkus Reviews and Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year; Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book; MLK: Journey of a King, winner of a National Council of Teachers of English Orbis Pictus Award; and Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty, an ALSC Notable Children's Book and CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People. Tonya also received the Children's Book Guild of Washington, DC's Nonfiction Award. A Princeton University magna cum laude baccalaureate with a master's degree from Columbia University, Tonya lives in NYC.Hayden Goodman is a painter and children’s book illustrator born and raised in the wilderness of Western Massachusetts. Her clients include the New Yorker, the New York Times, MIT, and Garden & Gun. The Green Piano is her debut picture book.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Laura

Growing up with Roberta Flack’s music in the early 70’s this book was a real joy to read . My beloved Grandfather was much like Roberta’s father going to the dump to breathe new life into objects and making music with friends and family throughout his life. This book brought back personal memories f......more

Goodreads review by Wren

Children can witness to the power of music in the life of a young person by reading this autobiography penned by Roberta Flack (b. 1937; turned 86 in 2023) with help by Tonya Bolden. It's illustrated by Hayden Goodman. Children will not be drawn to a story about an artist they may not know; however,......more

Goodreads review by Rachel

A story about how Roberta Flack loved music as a child, learned to play piano and about how her father found a piano from a dump and fixed it up. I feel like the author’s note, about how she tried singing opera, she was told her voice was better for pop, how she refound her voice, and how her singin......more

Goodreads review by Amy

Kids won’t recognize the name of Roberta Flack, but they will certainly understand what it is like to have a dream in your heart and long for it to come to a reality. It is also a wonderful example of parents creatively supporting a child’s dream even when they don’t necessarily have the means to do......more

Goodreads review by Barbara

This picture book autobiography is a 3.5 for me. While it may have more appeal for adults or the parents and grandparents of youngsters who are reading or hearing it since they'll surely be familiar with the piercing vocals of the subject's classic songs, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "K......more

Quotes

★ “A moving testimonial to the effects of instilling a love of live music in childhood.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ "Flack and Bolden employ spare, matter-of-fact verse to share the story of this initial piano and the hope it represented." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "A warm, soulful picture book autobiography about a living legend that will inspire burgeoning artists to pursue their dreams no matter their circumstances." —School Library Journal, starred review

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