Music of Life

The Music of Life: Bartolomeo Cristofori & the Invention of the Piano, written by Elizabeth Rusch, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman, and published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2017.

Themes/Topics: Music, Piano

Opening: In Padua, Italy, Bartolomeo Cristofori’s home since his birth, a hush envelops the room as the instrument maker carefully adjusts the tuning pins of a clavichord.

Brief Synopsis (from Amazon): Award-winning biographer Elizabeth Rusch and two-time Caldecott Honor–recipient Marjorie Priceman team up to tell the inspiring story of the invention of the world’s most popular instrument: the piano.

Why I Like This Book: I enjoyed the engaging story, colourful illustrations and ending which tied the history of the Master pianists of later ages.  It also had great sources and back matter which would be helpful to teach about primary and secondary sources.

Links To Resources

—Bartolomeo Cristofori article from Wikipedia

—Video: Hear the World’s Oldest Piano at The Met Museum (1 min.)