Libba
The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotten
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Elizabeth Cotten was only a little girl when she picked up a guitar for the first time. It wasn't hers (it was her big brother's), and it wasn't strung right for her (she was left-handed). But she flipped that guitar upside down and backwards and taught herself how to play it anyway. By age eleven, she'd written "Freight Train," one of the most famous folk songs of the twentieth century. And by the end of her life, people everywhere—from the sunny beaches of California to the rolling hills of England—knew her music. This lyrical, loving picture book from popular singer-songwriter Laura Veirs and debut illustrator Tatyana Fazlalizadeh tells the story of the determined, gifted, daring Elizabeth Cotten—one of the most celebrated American folk musicians of all time. Plus, this is the fixed format version, which looks almost identical to the print edition.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As a child in North Carolina at the end of the 19th century, Elizabeth Cotten taught herself to play her brother's guitar. It didn't matter that she was left-handed: she just played the guitar upside down. "It was kind of like brushing your teeth with your foot," writes Veirs, a singer-songwriter making her children's book debut. Cotten didn't pursue a career in music ("Time swept Libba up, and she stopped playing guitar"), and when readers next see her, she is a grandmother working in a department store. After being hired as a housekeeper by Ruth Crawford Seeger, Cotten impressed the famous family of folk musicians with her playing, leading to a lovely second act as a musician. Newcomer Fazlalizadeh's graphite drawings bring a moody atmosphere to Cotten's story, an elegant and moving portrait of a musician's late-in-life success and singular approach to her craft. Ages 5 8.
