Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreno Played the Piano for President Lincoln

 Winner of the Pura Belpre Illustrator Award
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book

In soaring words and stunning illustrations, Margarita Engle and Rafael Lopez tell the story of Teresa Carreno, a child prodigy who played piano for Abraham Lincoln.

As a little girl, Teresa Carreno loved to let her hands dance across the beautiful keys of the piano. If she felt sad, music cheered her up, and when she was happy, the piano helped her share that joy. Soon she was writing her own songs and performing in grand cathedrals. Then a revolution in Venezuela forced her family to flee to the United States. Teresa felt lonely in this unfamiliar place, where few of the people she met spoke Spanish. Worst of all, there was fighting in her new home, too-the Civil War.

Still, Teresa kept playing, and soon she grew famous as the talented Piano Girl who could play anything from a folk song to a sonata. So famous, in fact, that President Abraham Lincoln wanted her to play at the White House! Yet with the country torn apart by war, could Teresa's music bring comfort to those who needed it most?

Review: * "Engle's free verse whirls and twirls, playful and vivacious, while Lopez's vivid, colorful artwork elevates this story to heavenly heights. Like a concerto for the heart." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Lyrical, imagery-rich text . . . Patterned mixed-media illustrations use color to evoke the lushness of Venezuela, the darkness of war, and the beauty of music. Concluding with a historical note, the biography's vibrant images and language form a melodious composition." -- Booklist
"Lopez's swirling colors, soaring birds, and scattered notes conjure music's transportive powers amid the countries' war-torn landscapes, complementing Engle's text, and building 'hymns . . . shimmered like hummingbirds.'" -- Publishers Weekly
"Engle's writing shines through powerful descriptions and connections between music and feelings. Lopez's vivid illustrations expertly alternate between lush, vibrant hues, and gray, muted depictions of darker times; they evoke characters and historical settings with absorbing detail." -- Horn Book Magazine
"Author and illustrator are well paired in this interesting narrative. Darks and lights, whether representing world events or the colors of the piano keys, are recurring themes that Engle cleverly entwines in her at times poetic writing. Lopez's illustrations practically leap from the page as they mirror the tone of events-bright and beautiful when the story is light; dark, drab, and gray when echoing conflict." -- School Library Journal

Prizes: Winner of Pura Belpre Award (Illustrator) 2020.