Fae's Literary Garden

From then on, Teresa felt certain, she would always be bold enough to share her musical courage anywhere in the world, simply by letting her fingers travel across all the beautiful dark and light moments of hope.

• Author: Margarita Engle and Rafael López
• Type: Picture Book
• Format I read in: Physical
• Source: Borrowed from library
• Genre: Picture Biography
• Total Pages: 40
• Date Started: 05/12/24
• Date Ended: 05/12/24
• Language: English

↳ warnings: none

↳ why i picked it: I was looking for more diversity books, especially latinx books for hispanic/latine heritage month so we could have more updated biographies. And I found this one about an Icon in the history of my home country, so obviously I jumped to buy it so the kids can learn more about hispanic/latine people.

↬ summary

Narrates the early life of Teresa Carreño and how what led to this big event of her life which was playing for President Lincoln and his family.

↬ thoughts

The art is just so beautiful, like incredibly beautiful. Idk I really like the way the characters were drawn and then the way everything matched the words narrating the story. The words are soft and kind, especially when narrating the immigration story or how she felt out of place and treated as such.

It begins with a picture of her family, being pretty involved in her love for music and the role it plays in her life. In Venezuela she was making a name for herself, music was a leading light for her, and then because of the war, she had to sail for a new home. In there she had to start all over again, and unfortunately, this new home had a war too. But here, music was still able to lead the way. Music was/is a universal language even with the language barrier she now faced. She made a name for herself, and one of her big accomplishments in life happened so early, as President Lincoln wanted for her to play in the white house.

Playing for President Lincoln was a big thing, like pressure to be able to have music be a light for him since his family was grieving the loss of a son, a brother. And there was a hiccup with the piano, but she was able to overcome it and give light and love with her music to the President and everyone else in there, taking it as a lesson to be brave enough to try and share her music with the world.

At the end of the book, there is a historical note that expands more as to her life during the book and what happens after this event until the end of her days, and where her historical artifacts are at.

— much love, anto