Reviews for Libba : the magnificent musical life of Elizabeth Cotten

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

As a child, African American folk musician Elizabeth Cotten (18931987) taught her left-handed self to play guitar; then "time swept Libba up," and she stopped playing. As a grandmother, she's serendipitously hired as a housekeeper by the Seeger family, who rediscovered her talent and helped Cotten bring her music to the world. Fazlalizadeh's 
art, rendered in graphite with feathery digital coloring, complements Veirs's unpretentious prose exquisitely. Websites. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A biography of folk-music icon Elizabeth Cotten.Cotten grew up hearing music in everythingeveryday things. She would sneak her brother's guitar and play the sounds she heard, unconventionally playing the guitar upside down and backwarda way that made sense to her left-handedness. Though she eventually earned enough for her own guitar, as the years passed, Cotten didn't have time for music. One cleverly rendered illustration depicts various stages in Cotten's life in the cars of a passing freight train, explaining how her musical passion was (temporarily) derailed. When Cotten, now a grandmother working in a department store, encounters Ruth Crawford Seeger, Cotten becomes the musical family's housekeeper. One day, when Cotten picks up a guitar againstill playing upside down and backwardit's clear her talent and passion have not abandoned herthey've only lain dormant all those years. The Seegers use their privilege to help, and Cotten's talent is appreciated worldwide. Both endpapers and the book cover put guitar imagery to good use, and lovely graphite illustrations lend the story an old-time-y, country feela perfect pairing with Cotton's folk music. An inspiring tale of an artist who came into her own later in life than traditional narratives lead readers to believe is normal. (author's note, works cited) (Picture book/biography. 5-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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