Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum [Hardcover]

Robert A. Parker (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Regardless of whether they’ve heard of jazz or Art Tatum, young readers will appreciate how Parker uses simple, lyrical storytelling and colorful and energetic ink-and-wash illustrations to show the world as young Art Tatum might have seen it. Tatum came from modest beginnings and was nearly blind, but his passion for the piano and his acute memory for any sound that he heard drove him to become a virtuoso who was revered by both classical and jazz pianists alike. Included in the back matter is a biography and bibliography.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Parker, who illustrated Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan’s Sibert Honor Book Action Jackson (2002), contributes both words and pictures in this heartfelt portrait of jazz great Tatum. Parker pushes the limits of the book’s nonfiction cataloguing by speaking in the pianist’s first-person voice, but an author’s note and a solid bibliography set the episodes in a framework of established facts. The vibrant scenes, in Parker’s familiar style of scratched ink lines and watercolor washes, show young Tatum playing at home for his dancing parents, at church for a full choir, and at local clubs, where he is discovered and his international career begins. In some images, crowds of dancers and musicians create a swirl of animated motion; in others, Parker sets Tatum, who was nearly blind, against a deep, moody, abstract background of shifting colors. Throughout, the simple, direct language shows the power of the music for both Tatum and his listeners. “When I am at the piano . . . I play clouds of notes, rivers of notes . . . I forget that my eyes aren’t good. I have everything I need.” Cue up the music; children will best appreciate this beautiful tribute with an earful of Tatum at the keyboard. Grades 2-4. --Gillian Engberg

Review

Starred review, Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2007:
“Fusing Parker’s artistic talent and passion for jazz (he’s a musician, too), this sensitively embellished biography is totally on time.”

Starred review, Booklist, February 2, 2008:
“The simple, direct language shows the power of the music for both Tatum and his listeners.”

Starred review, School Library Journal, February 2008:
“Breathing life into words about music for young children is never easy, but Parker makes it appear effortless.”

Review, The San Francisco Chronicle, February 24, 2008:
"It's a joyful portrait of an innovative artist who was peerless in music ... A jazz musician himself, Parker brings a deep love and understanding to his subject."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Schwartz & Wade (January 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375839658
• ISBN-13: 978-0375839658
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 0.4 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,177,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Boyhood of a Prodigy, January 9, 2009

By 

Ben Sonnenberg (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum (Hardcover)

A book that tells of the childhood of the great jazz piano player, Art Tatum (1909-1956), who, though stricken with blindness when very young, went on to become a keyboard wonder. Beautifully illustrated and sensitively written, it fills you with joy and an urge to listen, or re-listen, to a miraculous musician.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story, phenomonal artwork, February 21, 2008

By 

John Q. Walker (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum (Hardcover)

The story of Art Tatum has been told too rarely -- it's a delight to have this wonderful book written by an impassioned author. Even more amazing is the gorgeous artwork, also done by Mr. Parker. Strongly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book, written in a gentle, sing song tone was very inspiring!, October 8, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum (Hardcover)

Art Tatum was a little boy born in Toledo. His father was a mechanic and his mother, who loved to sing in church, did a lot of cleaning. His mother played the piano, but mostly it sat "quietly in the corner," until one day he became tall enough to hit the keys on the keyboard. He banged at it, played with one finger, two fingers and before you could wink an eye it started to sound very good. Even his mother said it did. He loved to play on the piano and didn't care much about night or day and because his eyes were so bad he really couldn't tell the difference.

"Don't wear out that piano today," his father said to him before he left for work. Art just loved his piano. By the time he was ten he was asked to play in church. A little case of jitters immediately went away when he touched the keyboard. Later he was asked to play at the YMCA, then at a bake sale and even someone's birthday party. "My, my, isn't he something," his mother gushed. More and more he was asked to play until he became famous, but he still remembered and loved "all the people who helped" him.

This was a wonderful story. It was written in a gentle, sing song tone and was quite inspiring. The watercolors meshed quite well with the text. In the back of the book Robert Andrew Parker writes about actually meeting and listening to Art play. There is a brief, but very interesting biography of art and a bibliography. This book would be very appealing to any jazz fan and will be appreciated and loved even by those unacquainted with his work.