Updated: Jan 10, 2022
A Story of Yo-Yo Ma
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Harper Collins
(pub. 9.28.2021) 40 pages
Author: Joanna Ho
Illustrator: Teresa Martinez
Character: Yo-Yo Ma
Overview: "Before Yo-Yo Ma became one of the most renowned and celebrated cellists, he wanted to play the double bass. But it was too big for his four-year-old hands. Over time, Ma honed his amazing talent, and his music became a reflection of his own life between borders, cultures, disciplines, and generations.
Since then, he has recorded over a hundred albums, won nineteen Grammy Awards, performed for eight American presidents, and received the National Medal of the Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, just to name a few accomplishments.
Staying true to himself, Yo-Yo Ma performed at the US-Mexico border at the Rio Grande on April 13, 2019, as part of his multi-continent “Bach Project” tour to prove a point—through music, we can build bridges rather than walls between different cultures."
Tantalizing taste:
"Feet planted on the soil of one nation,
eyes gazing at the shores of another,
Yo-Yo Ma coaxed Petunia's strings to sing
Bach's cello suites.
Their notes danced over rocks and rivers
and walls
into the sky."
And something more: Joanna Ho shares in the Author's Note: "My mom used to blast a CD of Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach's cello suites early every Saturday morning. As a teenager, I hated it; I just wanted her to turn it off so I could sleep in...Now the cello suites remind me of her, a woman whose love and strength and power continue to astound me. My mom immigrated to the United States from Taiwan in her early twenties... When Yo-Yo Ma played at the border, it was an action of resistance and celebration, a reminder of the worth of immigrants, the work of immigrants, the belonging of immigrants here and everywhere. It felt like an act for me, for my family, and for anyone who has ever moved away from home in order to build a better life."
I was thrilled to be invited to be interviewed about our upcoming book, ABLAZE WITH COLOR - The Story of Painter Alma Thomas (Harper Collins 2/22/22) over the phone by TeachingBooks.net and also asked to submit a blog post. I chose to write about my experiences teaching a picture book unit to 7th graders.
Excerpts from my interview on TeachingBooks.net:
"I hope stories of creative people such as Alma Thomas will touch children and inspire everyone and each person to seek their own joy on their own creative paths. I believe absolutely everyone is so creative, and we can find joy and enrich our lives through art."
"I researched this story by reading absolutely every book, every gallery exhibit catalog, that I could find.And what was also really wonderful is Alma Thomas was interviewed many times in newspapers and magazines.I always like to find the actual words of the person I'm writing about because this is a true story. This is a biography, and no one tells their story better than themselves."
Excerpts from my blog post on TeachingBooks.net:
Harper Collins created such an amazing Educators' Guide - downloadable here.
The Educators' Guide includes "About the Book", "About the Author", "About the Illustrator", "Discussion Questions", "Extension Activities" (Design Your Cover, Imagination Station, Warm Colors/Cool Colors, Timeline of Our Lives, Portrait of Your Childhood) and "Tips for Reading This Book with Young Children.
