Music lovers will rejoice over this worthy title.
A little-known piano builder had a great impact on Beethoven.
Who hasn’t heard of Ludwig van Beethoven? By contrast, far fewer know of Nannette Stein Streicher (1769-1833), the German piano builder and proprietor of a successful Viennese piano-construction enterprise and also Beethoven’s lifelong “Beloved Friend.” Well educated and musically gifted, Nannette became involved in her father’s successful piano-building business from an early age. At 18, Nannette met Ludwig, 17, when he visited her home and played for her family. They became fast friends despite their differing personalities and backgrounds. When her father died, Nannette and a younger brother jointly took over her father’s company, since the law forbade a woman to own a company outright. Upon her marriage, Nannette moved the company to Vienna and put her name on what would become the renowned “Nannette Stein Streicher in Vienna” pianos. By then, Ludwig was a celebrated composer-pianist. He required instruments that met his very exacting specifications, and Nannette produced them all. Throughout his life, he played on more than a dozen Streicher pianos, claiming he preferred them over others. This beautifully written, though lengthy, account rightfully brings a lesser-known historical personality to wider attention, but its appeal is somewhat limited. It will be appreciated mostly by adult Beethoven fans and older children, particularly piano students practicing Beethoven pieces. Gorgeous gouache and colored-pencil illustrations bring the detailed period artworks to radiant life. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Music lovers will rejoice over this worthy title. (author’s note, bibliography, historical figures mentioned in this book, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 7-11)Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9780823451432
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal.
Before growing up to become a major figure in the civil rights movement, a boy finds a role model.
Buffing up a childhood tale told by her renowned father, Young Shelton describes how young Andrew saw scary men marching in his New Orleans neighborhood (“It sounded like they were yelling ‘Hi, Hitler!’ ”). In response to his questions, his father took him to see a newsreel of Jesse Owens (“a runner who looked like me”) triumphing in the 1936 Olympics. “Racism is a sickness,” his father tells him. “We’ve got to help folks like that.” How? “Well, you can start by just being the best person you can be,” his father replies. “It’s what you do that counts.” In James’ hazy chalk pastels, Andrew joins racially diverse playmates (including a White child with an Irish accent proudly displaying the nickel he got from his aunt as a bribe to stop playing with “those Colored boys”) in tag and other games, playing catch with his dad, sitting in the midst of a cheering crowd in the local theater’s segregated balcony, and finally visualizing himself pelting down a track alongside his new hero—“head up, back straight, eyes focused,” as a thematically repeated line has it, on the finish line. An afterword by Young Shelton explains that she retold this story, told to her many times growing up, drawing from conversations with Young and from her own research; family photos are also included. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal. (illustrator’s note) (Autobiographical picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-545-55465-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Quick and slick, but ably makes its case.
The distinguished jurist stands tall as a role model.
Not literally tall, of course—not only was she actually tiny but, as with all the other bobbleheaded caricatures in the “Ordinary People Change the World” series, Ginsburg, sporting huge eyeglasses on an outsize head over black judicial robes even in childhood, remains a doll-like figure in all of Eliopoulos’ cartoon scenes. It’s in the frank acknowledgment of the sexism and antisemitism she resolutely overcame as she went from reading about “real female heroes” to becoming one—and also the clear statement of how she so brilliantly applied the principle of “tikkun olam” (“repairing the world”) in her career to the notion that women and men should have the same legal rights—that her stature comes clear. For all the brevity of his profile, Meltzer spares some attention for her private life, too (“This is Marty. He loved me, and he loved my brains. So I married him!”). Other judicial activists of the past and present, all identified and including the current crop of female Supreme Court justices, line up with a diversely hued and abled group of younger followers to pay tribute in final scenes. “Fight for the things you care about,” as a typically savvy final quote has it, “but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
Quick and slick, but ably makes its case. (timeline, photos, source list, further reading) (Picture-book biography. 7-9)Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2024
ISBN: 9780593533338
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Rocky Pond Books/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
