This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of Mahani Teave, a professional pianist who grew up on Rapa Nui (also known as Easter Island). Moved by her love for music Mahani finds joy in playing the piano and exhibiting her talent, but moved by her love of her home, she searches for a way to fight the environmental disaster facing her island. This is an excellent segway for research at the elementary or middle school level and/or to spur conversations about the environment, environmental problems, and solutions. This encourages each one of us to take responsibility for the world around us.

I have added this book to my TrueStory Bookshop and recommend it in four categories:
Picture-Book Biographies ~ Women’s History
Picture-Book Biographies ~ Musicians & Singers
Picture-Book Biographies ~ Activists
Picture-Book Biographies ~ Asian and AAPI Stories

https://bookshop.org/shop/KarlinGray

I loved this story and I think my students would too. A beautiful story, stunning illustrations, and a contemporary changemaker who I had not heard of before. Please consider adding a photograph of Mahani included at the end of the book. Looking forward to adding this to our school library collection.

I am a music educator so I often check out music related children's books. This book was wonderful, I loved learning about Mehani Treave's journey. It will inspire readers to explore, be brave and have big dreams, as well as care about the environment.

The illustration is stunning.

Thank you Net Galley & publisher for the arc.

Nonfiction.
Mahani Teave is a gifted and talented person who knew at an early age that she was born to play musical instruments. Her parents are multicultural and she grows up on a tropical island in the pacific that is part of the nation of Chile. One day she realized that she could read music and just knew that she could play any instrument at all. Then a renowned Chilean pianist visited the island and started her on a musical career that included Austral University, the Cleveland Institute of Music and Hanns Eisler Music Academy. She is a star who has travelled the world performing classical and other music. But her heart was in her island home, and that was where she and her team were inspired to build a wonderful ecological music school out of all of the metal and other trash left behind by careless tourists. There is much to be learned at the end of the book as well!
The illustrations by Marta Álvarez Miguéns are simply delightful, imaginative, and colorful.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to anyone, but especially to a school or your public library!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from SOURCEBOOKS Kids/Sourcebooks Explore via NetGalley. Thank you!

Lovely story, nice art. Perfect for aspiring musicians and idealist tweens. It is a story of talent, resilience, making a difference in the life of others and giving back to those who propped you up.

Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Kids, Sourcebooks Explore for accepting my request to read and review The Girl Who Heard the Music: How One Pianist and 85,000 Bottles and Cans Brought New Hope to an Island.

Author: Marni Fogelson
Published: 04/04/23
Genre: Children's Nonfiction

This is such a short book and nonfiction; there is very little to add. The synopsis says it all.

The story is written well. I loved the illustrations and the symbolism of Mahani's flowers on her head.

It's heartwarming to see one piano, one little girl with a dream, and all she has achieved.

This is definitely giftable.

Thank you Sourcebook Explore and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this wonderful book. Beautiful artwork and a powerful, well-written story combine to create this amazing, inspirational read. This book would make a great addition to any collection. Definitely recommend.

*read this with my service dog and he reviews the children’s books*

This kept his attention, he loved the concept around the book. This was such a great read for kids who like to learn about people and their dreams. We enjoyed it because we support all women who make their dreams come true. Kennedy (SD Dog) pawed at 5 all the stars, and that she was a very ‘smart lady’.

We give it all the stars and recommend it to all young kids with dreams and passions.

The illustrations are really the star of this story, with beautiful landscapes, community scenes, and a brilliant balance of color and white space. I was a little bit confused by the storyline, as to whether it was about her journey as a musician, her support for her community, etc... Was this a biography? Was this a story of building a music school? I don't know if the transition between the pieces of the story worked as strongly as intended, though I loved hearing (very briefly) about the new school for music.

This uplifting story of a young girl who was captured by the power of music and her delight in it takes place on the island of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island. Mahani, delighted in native instruments and the piano, which was brought to the island. As she grows up, she takes the opportunities offered to her to study in conservatories and schools around the world. But when she returns to the island, she see it is surrounded by plastic waste and other trash. She adopts a wonderful solution--using the waste littered around the island shores to build a music school--one that was built from trash and powered by solar panels. What a wonderful idea and a satisfyying ending to the book.

The Girl Who Heard the Music by Marni Fogelson and illustrated by Marta Álvarez Miguéns has been a heavenly and delightful read for both my eyes and my ears. Based on real events and the life of Mahani Teave.
Have you heard of Rapa Nui? I have and as I was reading this story I was looking for real images of the island and without having been there, nor being a native I fell in love with it, so imagine a young girl who begins to feel curious about the piano, who discovers that she knows how to read scores and has a natural talent that makes her stand out and grow in her dream and passion.
On the other hand, we meet Mahani, who is strongly rooted to her land, her ocean, her trees and her community and feels that her land is getting lost among rubbish and things that people throw away.
So she decides with her privileged mind to do something for Rapa Nui, but that is for you to discover.

I like these stories of children who find their true passion, who by a chance of life start something out of curiosity and end up loving what they do. In this book you can see Mahani's way of being, his sensitivity and his desire to see the world, but his fear of forgetting his beautiful land.
I was surprised to learn that there was no piano on the island and that Mahani discovered this instrument, as I told you before, through a German musician.
Another visitor was key to this talented young woman making this great leap was Roberto Bravo. There are people who cross your path and change your life, so I think that meeting this figure was decisive and when I finished reading The Girl Who Heard the Music a question came to my mind: would she have discovered music in a different way? was she predestined to become a great musician? I believe that there are beautiful coincidences and that fate puts people on such paths, so sooner or later she would have succeeded.

Mahani is aware of the problems of Rapa Nui and I was thrilled to learn about the NGO he has created and the wonders they do with what we throw away.
A short story I didn't know about and had never heard of. Details are told in the book, but there are times when some facts are glossed over, but still, I liked it a lot.

A book full of exquisite illustrations. The Girl Who Heard the Music takes place on the island of Rapa Nui where Mahani discovers her talent for music. She hones that talent all over the world, but is still drawn back to her home and the problems it has. A great example of making the change you want to see in the world.

The true story of Mahani Teave, talented pianist and environmental activist. She grew up on Easter Island, Rapu Nui, and took piano lesson using the only piano on the island. Leaving the island to gain the additional training she needed and to perform, she never forgot where she came from.

Rapa Nui struggled with ocean pollution and Mahani decided it was up to her and her environmentalist friends to save the island. Upon her return, she decided to build a music school using only recycled plastic materials. The school succeeded, not only making people aware of ocean pollution, but provided opportunities for island residents to gain musical skills.

This book is so good! I initially requested it because I love music and the piano and the cover is beautiful! But I learned so much! I had never heard of the girl the book is about, and I'm so glad I read about her. She changed the lives of so many people for the good! I loved this book!

This nonfiction picture book shares the story of a young musician from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) who developed a passion for classical music. She ended up using her success as a way to bless others at home, building a music school out of the trash that was harming the island. This is a nice story about following your dreams and staying grounded, and the environmental element is educational and inspiring without feeling too preachy. There is additional information in the author's note at the end, and this will appeal for home use, schools, and libraries.

This is a well written biography about Mahani Teave from the island of Rapa Nui. Not only an accomplished musician, she led a movement in environmentalism by cleaning garbage from the waters around the island and using found materials in new construction. She is an inspiration to any child interested in music or taking care of the earth and the story is a wonderful mirror or window into Mahani's culture.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Marni for the review copy! ❤️

Such an inspiring story with lovely illustrations. It features Mahani Teave, a classical pianist who hails from Rapa Nui. It's one of the most remote inhabited island in the world and the people greatly rely on tourism. I loved getting to learn about its history, about Mahani herself and her contribution to island, her connection with the nature and how she changed its future by turning wastages into something useful. Definitely recommend ❤️✨

This is a great book for two reasons: one you learn about Mahani as a pianist, but you also learn about her as an environmentalist. I had no idea who she was prior to reading this book, but I am amazed at the things she has accomplished. A fun read to a class and a must have in the classroom library.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

This book gives some serious Moana vibes. The feeling of the story, the island name, the illustrations just all had me singing "I am Moana!" inside my head, because I was reading this in a public setting and people would probably think I'm crazy should they hear me singing that with no music. It's not even like the story felt like a knock-off of Moana, it is definitely its own story and very different in plot. But if you have a Moana obsessed child, I'd definitely recommend this book.

The story itself was kind of motivational. I really can't imagine what it must be like living on a small island that sees such huge numbers of tourists. Living in Colorado near the mountains we see our fair share of tourists here, but we have means of getting rid of their garbage that people on an island apparently don't have. I feel like the book is kind of a reminder that we really need to be mindful of what we're doing to the world we live on, regardless of where we live, because even if the garbage isn't affecting us where we live, it might be affecting others.

Overall I give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.