Jazz

by Walter Dean Myers, Christopher Myers (Illustrator)

Overview

Illustrations and rhyming text celebrate the roots of jazz music.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823421732
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/15/2008
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 11.40(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	NP (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Walter Dean Myers (1937 - 2014) was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He was one of the premier authors of books for children, and received numerous awards including the Michael L. Printz award and the Coretta Scott King Award.

Christopher Myers is a writer and fine artist, but he is best known for his award-winning picture books, such as the Caldecott and Coretta Scott King honor book Harlem, written by his father, and his own Black Cat, which also received a Coretta Scott King Honor Award. He lives and works in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

★ "A welcome addition to the literature of jazz."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

★ "[A] mesmerizing verbal and visual riff on a uniquely American art form." —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
 
★ "An absolutely airtight melding of words and pictures that is perfectly accessible to a younger audience." —Booklist, Starred Review
 
"Readers will find music coming irresistibly into their heads." —The Horn Book

From the Publisher

A cycle of 15 poems and vivid, expressive paintings celebrate that most American genre of music: jazz. Myers pŠre presents readers with poems that sing like their subject, the drumming of African rhythms leading into a celebration of Louis Armstrong, an evocation of stride piano, a recreation of a New Orleans jazz funeral and a three-part improvisation among bass, piano and horn. A script-like display type appears sparingly, guiding readers to the sound of jazz embedded in the poems' syncopated rhythms. Myers fils uses bold colors and lines straight from the muralists of the '30s to create his illustrations, dramatic foreshortening and exaggerated angles a visual complement to the pulsing sounds being celebrated. It's a very different look and treatment from that given to their earlier blues journey (2003), although equally successful at giving readers a visceral sense of its musical subject. A lengthy introduction, glossary and timeline give background to the whole. This offering stands as a welcome addition to the literature of jazz: In a genre all too often done poorly for children, it stands out as one of the few excellent treatments. (Picture book/poetry. 8+)

Kirkus Reviews