The 39 Apartments of Ludwig Van Beethoven

How hard is it to move 5 legless pianos 39 times?

Beethoven owned five legless pianos and composed great works on the floor. His first apartment was in the center of Vienna's theater district... but he forgot to pay rent, so he had to move. (And it's very hard to move a piano. Even harder to move five). Beethoven's next apartment was in a dangerous part of town... so he moved, and the pianos followed on a series of pulleys. Then came an apartment with a view of the Danube (but he made too much noise and the neighbors complained), followed by an attic apartment (where he made even MORE of a rukus), and so Beethoven moved again and again. Each time, pianos were bought, left behind, transported on pulleys, slides, and by movers, all so that gifted Beethoven could compose great works of music for the world.

"While the pseudo-scholarly tone of this amusing 'mockumentary' will undoubtedly float over the heads of some, older readers will enjoy its tongue-in-cheek lampoon of portentous documentaries. Beginning with the fact that Beethoven (1770 — 1827) 'owned five legless pianos and composed great works on the floor,' the narrative then points out that he lived in 39 different apartments — '(See book title.)' Winter (Roberto Clemente) and Blitt (Once Upon a Time, the End: Asleep in 60 Seconds) combine comic brio with audacious fabrication to suggest how difficult it was for the poor fellow to move his quintet of pianos from one place to another. They suggest, for instance, that a nearly deaf Beethoven's playing was 'bangingly loud!' and support the statement by claiming historians have found 'hundreds of cotton balls with traces of dried earwax' in his neighbors' apartments. Blitt visually elaborates on each outlandish, allegedly well-researched detail. Illustrating a piano wheeled through an obliging neighbor's apartment, the artist pictures the movers carrying the piano across a dining room table midfeast. The unseen narrator's droll tone sends up the hushed, dramatic voice of an announcer: 'Why did Ludwig move after only eight and a half days? Was it, as his diary suggests, because of the 'hideous stinky cheese smell' that filled his apartment? We do not know.' A witty spoof of a familiar genre, this irreverent account of a brilliant musician is full of satiric pleasures (and ends with an author's note that sorts fact from fiction). Ages 4-9. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Jonah Winter is the author of Diego, a biography of Diego Rivera, Frida, about artist Frida Kahlo, a Parents' Choice Gold Medal winner, and Roberto Clemente: The Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the story of one of the most admired baseball players of all time. He is also the author of two other books about baseball: Fair Ball!: 14 Great Stars from Baseball's Negro Leagues and Beisbol!: Latino Baseball Pioneers and Legends. The author lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Barry Blitt's illustrations have appeared on the cover of the New Yorker and have also graced the pages of the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, Child Magazine and Entertainment Weekly. He is the illustrator of the children's book, Once Upon a Time, the End: Asleep in 60 Seconds by Geoffrey KloskeBarry Blitt lives in Riverdale, Connecticut.