SALLY'S MUSICAL TALE

 A Winding Wiggly Conversation with Rosie J. Pova about SALLY'S MUSICAL TALE

Rosie and I had a delightful discussion surrounding her most recent book, SALLY'S MUSICAL TALE. We talk about empowering kids, providing inspiration, imagination, and more. The book is so fun and so is this conversation!

SALLY'S MUSICAL TALE

What do you do when your dream is a little out of reach?  You improvise!  That's what Sally learns, but what a fun journey getting there!  SALLY'S MUSICAL TALE is inspirational, fun, funny, and full of great heart, along with understated messages of perseverance, tenacity, originality, creative problem-solving and more!  

A Little Jam. . .(The Music Kind)

There are some fabulous videos in the YouTube playlist -- including several tutorials for playing snake songs on the piano, but I love this fun little dance where kids get to emulate a slithery snake.  But if you don't like this one, check out the links section for lots more musical connections.

​Teacher Tips, Tricks and TopicS

Layers: Piano, snakes, problem-solving, teamwork, perseverance/tenacity, creative thinking, musical puns/wordplay

Piano (See Music Teacher section)

Snakes -- This book would make a fun kick-off for a snake unit or a chunk in a snake unit. There are so many ways you could branch out with snakes depending on the age of your students/children. I will list a few here, but there are tons of crafts and lessons and activities in the Pinterest board in the links section as well.

• Snakes and Ladders (could be used with all kinds of content
• Snake life cycles
• Snake body parts
• Snakes as a larger part of a reptile unit
• -ake word family/rhyming words
• Different types of snakes
• Values, benefits and dangers of snakes
• Snake conservation
• Pair with nf snake text or snake poems for literacy

Problem-solving
Teamwork
Perseverance/tenacity
Creative thinking -- These all tend to lend themselves to social-emotional learning, growth mindset, etc.  This book would make an excellent example for any of those areas or to use as a jumping off place for diving into some of those topics. 

ELA (English/Language Arts)

• onomatopoeia
• puns/word play
  
• ​Verb tenses/endings
  

​​Tips and Topics for Music Teachers

While the main focus for this book is (obviously) the piano, there are also tons of other instruments, musical vocabulary and musical puns/wordplay in this story. Some ideas:

• Basic piano knowledge (black and white keys, key names, etc.). There are quite a few piano games in the YouTube playlist and the Pinterest board.
• Listen to piano music (You could extend by focusing on one or more famous pianists or piano composers.)
• Fun challenge:  Try to get 10 kids using one finger to play together on the piano. Talk about the challenges Sally and her siblings would have had learning to play together.
• Scavenger hunt in the book:  Find all the instruments (names and/or pictures)
• Snake songs (Check the YouTube playlist and Pinterest board)
• Songs about problem-solving, teamwork, perseverance, tenacity, and creative thinking.
• Pair with other piano books (MY PIANO by Jen Fier Jasinski, for instance) for a piano unit in the music room.
• Musical vocabulary/language:
  • Pianist/piano
  • keys
  • melody
  • octave
  • concerto
  • technique
  • maestro
  • musician
  • drums
  • harmonica
  • rattle
  • rehearsal
  • perform
  • concert
  • high note
  • audience
  
  

​​Writing Prompts from Tonnye

1. Write your own snake story.
2. Write the sequel to SALLY'S MUSICAL TALE. What happens at her music school? 
3. Write about what one of the rehearsals might have looked like with Sally and her siblings practicing.
4. Write a letter to the author and/or illustrator telling them your favorite things about the book and asking any questions you might have.
5. Write the story from the piano's point of view (How would you like to have ten snakes pounding on your ivories?!)
6. Write a letter to Sally.  Do you want to be a student at her school?  Tell her how proud you are of her and her siblings? 
7. Make a list of your own musical puns/word play.
8. Write a story about another animal who learns to play an instrument.
9. Have you ever taken piano lessons?  Write about your learning journey.
10. Draw a picture of Sally and her siblings playing a piano concert.  Then write a story to go with the picture.
11. See if you can write a rhyming poem with 10 lines and every line rhymes with snake.
12. Tail/tale sound the same but have different meanings. Write a story using both words correctly.
13. Make a list of 10 interesting facts about snakes.
14. Write a letter telling someone why they should not be afraid of snakes.
15. Are snakes good animals? Why or why not?
16. Write about a time when you showed tenacity and perseverance.
17. Try these poetic challenges:
    1. Write a cinquain or a diamante poem starting with tail and ending with tale (or vice versa)
    2. Use the cinquain or diamante form but start and end with piano and snake.
    3. Write a concrete/shape poem in the form of a snake.
    4. Write an acrostic poem using snake or piano
18. Choose one kind of snake. Learn everything you can about it and write a report about it.

Writing Tips from Rosie

• Don’t open your story with dialogue — unless you’re being very intentional and have a strong reason for doing so. An opening line should ground the reader first, not confuse them about who’s speaking or what’s happening.
  
• Keep your POV consistent and your main character in the spotlight. Don’t let secondary characters steal the scene or drive the story — your protagonist should always be the emotional and narrative center.
  
• Make sure your story doesn’t read like a script. Watch out for “talking heads,” play-by-play action, or flat descriptions. 
  

Links, More Fun, Extensions for Families and Everyone!
​

YouTube playlist full of musical connections!  You'll find songs, dances, tutorials, etc.

Pinterest board with lots of crafts, snake facts and activities, teaching ideas, and all sorts of fun things to do with SALLY'S MUSICAL TALE.

**Free poster with cool snake facts!!! ​https://www.rosiejpova.com/books.html (Look for the green arrow!)

Guest Links and Giveaway

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More about the book and order links on her website or here on Goodreads.

To be entered to win a free picture book critique by Rosie J. Pova, please leave a comment below by 11:59 PM ET Nov. 19, 2025  All comments will be entered into the random drawing for ONE picture book critique (subject to Rosie's parameters: fiction, non-rhyming, up to 700 words.)

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