Libba

The Magnificent Musical
Life of Elizabeth Cotten

Chronicle Books

(pub. 1.16.2018)
40 pages

A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top   

A uthor:  Laura Veirs
    and illustrator: Tatyana Fazlalizadeh

C haracter: Elizabeth Cotten

O verview from the jacket flap: 

     "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 - she was left-handed. But she flipped that guitar up and around and figured out how to play it anyway. By the time she was eleven, she'd written 'Freight Train', a song so famous you might even be able to hum it right now. And by the end of her life, everyone from the California beaches to the rolling hills of England knew her music. Libba's trip to success wasn't always straight, and it sure was bumpy, but she never stopped in her tracks. She always kept rolling.

       This lyrical, loving book from acclaimed singer-songwriter Laura Veirs and debut illustrator Tatyana Fazlalizadeh tells the story of the determined, gifted, daring Elizabeth Cotten - one of the America's greatest folk musicians.

T antalizing taste: 
      

"One day the kids on the porch

and the bluesmen in the living room

and the drummers down below

     heard a sound.

It was like a thousand songbirds singing.

Or a gentle spring rain.

Or a train rambling down the tracks.

It was Libba, singing and picking that guitar like she'd never set it down."

 
and something more: In the Author's Note, Laura Veirs explains that "Libba believed that people could accomplish anything at any age. Her story appeals to me as a musician, as a woman, and as a fan of folk history. Libba accomplished so much despite growing up poor in the segregated South where very few opportunities were available to her. I hope readers will explore the life and music of Libba Cotten, a beautiful tributary of the great river that is American folk music."