by Carolyn Sloan ; illustrated by Jessica Gibson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2019
A swinging invitation to get into the groove.
A slide through the foundational instruments and elements of jazz, with push-button sound clips.
Three cats (of the feline sort) get hep (“This music makes me wanna dance in my seat!” “That’s because it’s got a great groove.” “It sure does. Wait! What’s a groove?”) as they take in a jazz combo on a club stage and then follow the music out onto the street. Sloan (Welcome to the Symphony, 2015) fills in the bass line with historical notes, covering the development of jazz as “an African American art form” from early days in New Orleans’ Congo Square to the arrival of Louis Armstrong, and explaining important terms such as “improvisation” and “scat singing.” Prompts in the narrative lead readers to a dozen short clips taken from an original recording of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Buttons that trigger the clips are lined up to the side and produce isolated flurries from select instruments, a snatch of clarinet solo, a bit of voiced scat, and a few seconds of the main theme as an effervescent instrumental and also with call-and-response lyrics. A portrait gallery in one cartoon illustration that gives nods to five early jazz greats (all, like the fictive modern band on stage, African American) is backed up at the end with a limited but at least somewhat more expansive playlist of classic tracks for further listening, though caregivers who want to introduce kids to bebop and other later styles are on their own.
A swinging invitation to get into the groove. (glossary) (Informational novelty. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5235-0688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
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by Andrew Young & Paula Young Shelton ; illustrated by Gordon C. James ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 2, 2022
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal.
Before growing up to become a major figure in the civil rights movement, a boy finds a role model.
Buffing up a childhood tale told by her renowned father, Young Shelton describes how young Andrew saw scary men marching in his New Orleans neighborhood (“It sounded like they were yelling ‘Hi, Hitler!’ ”). In response to his questions, his father took him to see a newsreel of Jesse Owens (“a runner who looked like me”) triumphing in the 1936 Olympics. “Racism is a sickness,” his father tells him. “We’ve got to help folks like that.” How? “Well, you can start by just being the best person you can be,” his father replies. “It’s what you do that counts.” In James’ hazy chalk pastels, Andrew joins racially diverse playmates (including a White child with an Irish accent proudly displaying the nickel he got from his aunt as a bribe to stop playing with “those Colored boys”) in tag and other games, playing catch with his dad, sitting in the midst of a cheering crowd in the local theater’s segregated balcony, and finally visualizing himself pelting down a track alongside his new hero—“head up, back straight, eyes focused,” as a thematically repeated line has it, on the finish line. An afterword by Young Shelton explains that she retold this story, told to her many times growing up, drawing from conversations with Young and from her own research; family photos are also included. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal. (illustrator’s note) (Autobiographical picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-545-55465-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
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by Leda Schubert ; illustrated by Theodore Taylor III ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2018
For ballerinas in training and in spirit.
Tracing a line directly from Wilkinson to Misty Copeland, Schubert highlights racism and prejudice in America and in ballet as well as the recent breaking of one barrier.
Wilkinson, born in 1935 to an upper-class African-American family in New York City, fell in love with classical ballet at an early age and was determined to dance. She was invited to join the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at the age of 20. Unfortunately, touring through America’s Southern states brought danger, threats, forced segregation, and ugly encounters with the Ku Klux Klan. She left ballet briefly, then danced in Europe, before finally returning to America for a long career with the New York City Opera. Misty Copeland, recently promoted to principal ballerina at the American Ballet Theatre—its first African-American—credits Wilkinson as a mentor in the book’s final scene. A color photograph of the two women after Copeland’s debut performance in Swan Lake is a beautiful inspiration to young ballerinas of color. Schubert’s research included an interview with Wilkinson, quotations from which allow her to speak to readers with her own voice. Taylor’s digitized artwork depicts scenes from the rehearsal studio and the stage along with ugly episodes of Klan activity. His people are expressive, but their firm, black outlines and flat, solid coloring cause them to lack the delicacy associated with this ethereal art form.
For ballerinas in training and in spirit. (foreword, afterword, author’s note, ballet terms, partial bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 6-9)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0592-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
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