You know I love art, right?

Do you also know I love children’s books?  And I obviously love the piano.

Put them all together, and what have you got?!?!

Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum by Robert Andrew Parker

The children’s picture book follows the childhood of Art Tatum, one of the all-time greats of jazz piano.  Art Tatum had very bad vision that only got worse with age.  The book tells how, because of this, he loved playing around on his family’s piano.  As he grew up, he had many opportunities to play for people- first at his church, in his school, at cafes, and soon he became a fixture in local bars.  Shortly after that, he was asked to play for a radio station, five days a week.  As the book says, he soon became famous for his ability to “play one song and then weave another song in and out and through it.”

I especially love the above picture, as I have my own tiny pianist at home.

I confess, I did not know who Art Tatum was when I picked up this book.  But I have since been listening and watching videos of him on YouTube.  And I am in LOVE.

Don’t you just hate it when you discover something or somebody you wished you had discovered long ago?  I’m glad to have found Art Tatum.  How about you?