The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music

Illustrated by:
Illustration of young Roberta Flack sitting at a piano

Growing up in a Blue Ridge mountain town, little Roberta didn't have fancy clothes or expensive toys...but she did have music. And she dreamed of having her own piano. When her daddy spies an old, beat-up upright piano in a junkyard, he knows he can make his daughter's dream come true. He brings it home, cleans and tunes it, and paints it a grassy green. And soon the little girl has an instrument to practice on, and a new dream to reach for — one that will lead to her becoming a legend in the music industry. 

Learn more

Hear Ms. Flack talking about the book in this 2023 feature from NPR, Roberta Flack's first piano came from a junkyard – five Grammys would follow.

Editor's note: Ms. Flack passed away in February 2025 at the age of 88.