Lulu goes to piano lessons and is supposed to practice her playing at home. She never wants to practice and decides to do other stuff instead. ( )

After her weekly piano lesson with Mr. Sharp, young Lulu spends the following week distracted by other matters - swinging, biking, climbing the apple tree - and doesn't do a bit of practicing. Full of apprehension as she approaches her next lesson, Lulu blurts out the truth - that she didn't practice at all - as soon as she sees her teacher. Fortunately, Mr. Sharp draws her out about what she did do, and leads her to consider those activities as musical in nature, and related to the song she is meant to be learning...

Although I like the idea of Lulu's Piano Lesson, both in terms of its depiction of a young girl who isn't the most disciplined, in approaching her piano lessons, and in the way her teacher handles the issue, by drawing real-world activities into the realm of music education, I couldn't help wondering, as I read along, whether Arlene Alda's narrative wasn't too text-heavy, for a picture-book of this nature. Will younger children sit still for a story involving such extended blocks of text? I suppose it depends on the child, but it is definitely something to consider. The artwork here, created by Lisa Desimini using collage and digital media, is colorful, but not really to my taste. Recommended primarily to those looking for children's stories about learning a musical instrument, the value of practice, and the importance of really listening to the world around us. ( )