Joanna is a typical ten-year-old girl who reluctantly moves from London to a country manor house - Fortuna House. She discovers a grand piano in a top floor storage room, and strangely, an eccentric gentleman knocks at the front door at the same time - offering piano lessons...The piano is unique. Joanna soon falls under its spell and together with her first piano book: Tunes to Take You Back, Joanna begins a magical journey that takes her places she never expected......to the Second World War, the First World War, early Victorian and mid-Georgian times Interspersed with creative ideas and light-hearted observations on modern family living, this story feeds imaginations and gives realistic, albeit brief, insights into bygone eras...Perfect for 8-12 year-olds...boys and girls alike, with black and white pages to add to the reading experience...despite everything being far from black and white www.shaggydoggs.comINDEPENDENT PROOF EDITOR REVIEW: I liked it very much indeed - I loved the characters and the captivating idea of a time travelling piano. I felt the relationships between the characters were natural and believable and the pace of the story worked well - nothing went too fast or too slow. It feels very original and also combines an entertaining story with historical information - but in an interesting and affecting way, absorbing the reader into the story while at the same time teaching them important facts about our history. I also loved the combination of realism against the magical elements - they are married well together with an element of almost Enid Blyton...I was an avid reader at that age and Joanna and the piano is a story that would have really appealed to me. EMMA PHOENIX KELLY ENGLISH TEACHE
