The syncopated rhythms of bebop form the backbeat to this introduction to Dizzy Gillespie. Winter sets his stage with a firm delineation of young Gillespie’s character: A little boy who was the target of bullies and the victim of an abusive father found an outlet with the trumpet, and turned himself into a clown. The narrative focuses on Gillespie’s own emotional and artistic journey, celebrating his desire to take risks “until the very thing that had gotten him into trouble / so much— / being a clown, breaking all the rules— / had become the thing that made him great, / . . . . ” The text breaks into ecstatic scat while the illustrations move from representational art to abstract depictions of the jagged sounds of jazz. Qualls’s acrylic-and-collage images employ a muted palette of pinks and blues and beiges, and compositions vary from scenes of daily life to poster-like montages, effectively establishing Gillespie as larger than life. The narrative culminates in a priceless image of Dizzy “shov[ing] the angel Gabriel out of the way / and show[ing] him how to play / Bebop.” “OOP BOP SH’BAM!” (author’s note) (Picture book/biography. 5-10)
