JANICE: Wonderful connections happen with books. In planning the May 1st release party for
Anna Maria's Gift at Book People,
I knew we must have three things — a reading of Chapter 1, violin playing by a young girl, and Italian creme cake. Sweetish Hill provided the cake, and I did the reading of the chapter in which Anna Maria plays the violin for her papa on his deathbed. My friend, pianist and teacher Felicity Coltman, found our "Anna Maria" to play the violin. Her name is Gelsomina. We have become friends with the whole family. She calls us Miss Janice and Mister Tom, and I call her my angel. Here we are rehearsing as she plays the largo from Vivaldi's D Minor Concerto, just as Anna Maria does.
The performance was a touching success that brought tears to some eyes, including mine. Gelsomina played from her heart as if she were truly Anna Maria. And then we all recovered over Anna Maria's cake!
There is a bit of serendipity involved here. Our picture book,
I, Vivaldi, has recently been published in Korea. It happens that Gelsomina's mother and violin coach is Korean and her father is appropriately Italian. In thanks for her playing, Tom and I presented the family with this Korean edition as well as a copy of
Anna Maria's Gift just for Gelsomina
.
Posts
Janice,
ReplyDeleteI just read your guest post on Cynsations today. It just so happens that I went to the library with my kids, saw Anna Maria's gift, and got it for my 7 yo daughter. She is, at this moment, begging me to let her read "just one more chapter" before going to sleep. I only let her finish the one she's on since it's 10:00 already. I'm going to read it next, and based on her enthusiasm, I can't wait!
Just thought you'd like to know.
Julie
Yes, Julie, I would like to know and I'm thrilled. Your comment just made my day. You can find more posts on < www.shefelmanbooks.com >. Let me know what you and your seven yo daughter think when you finish the book.
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