My Friend the Piano

Kindergarten-Grade 3?A story about childhood creativity that seems to be told from an adult perspective. When a child begins to "compose" on the family piano, Mother insists that the youngster learn how to play and stop making noise. The lessons don't go well, and Mother decides that the instrument must go. A woman agrees to take it, intending to turn it into a storage chest. While helping Father move it, the child climbs onboard and calls out directions, leading the instrument on a wild ride that culminates in a swan dive into the sea. The last page shows the piano swimming and making music with the dolphins. The book starts out as a reminiscence of a treasured relationship between the child and the piano, but the story is soon overwhelmed by the animosity that develops between the child and the mother, who has no patience for or appreciation of this young musician's creativity. Hawkes's illustrations, acrylic paints on paper, show an anthropomorphized piano that expresses joy when the child composes, terror while being tuned, and grim determination while making its getaway. The paintings are disproportionate and garish with the piano's keys seeming more like teeth than inviting ivory playmates. This is an interesting premise that results in a less-than-inspired finished product. Spare yourself from this ode to being different and recommend instead David Shannon's A Bad Case of Stripes (Scholastic, 1998).?Susan M. Moore, Louisville Free Public Library, KY
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