A sure hit for jazz fans who like to dance along with their read-alouds.
A band of insects, speaking Spanish, French, and jazz scat, survives a shipwreck in this third installment of a picture-book series.
The Jazz Bugs—featuring Jazz Fly on drums, Nancy the Gnat on saxophone, Centipede Sam on piano, and Willie the Worm on bass—perform on the cruise ship SS Le Magnifique, with Capt. Cockroach at the helm. The group plays so well that no one notices the thunder in the distance or the rolling of the ship until a storm hits and the vessel crashes on the shoals. With the help of the band, Capt. Cockroach gets the passengers aboard lifeboats. Most of the musicians find safety in a glass bottle until the tempest passes. While much of the adventure involves the band’s waiting for rescue, the story isn’t the highlight here. Gollub’s use of music, especially when the book is accompanied by the included CD or audio download, gives the tale its texture. The author’s phrases don’t always rhyme, which could baffle grown-ups trying to read this work aloud. But the audio enhances the experience, exposing kids to music in 5/4 or 7/8 time. The inclusion of Spanish and French is seamless, especially when pronounced by Gollub and the other performers. Hanke’s bright, eye-catching illustrations are sure child pleasers, and, despite the dangerous storm, her depictions of peril are never too scary for young readers.
A sure hit for jazz fans who like to dance along with their read-alouds.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-889910-54-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tortuga Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 5, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure.
It’s not truffles but doubloons that tickle this porcine wayfarer’s fancy.
Funke and Meyer make another foray into chapter-book fare after Emma and the Blue Genie (2014). Here, mariner Stout Sam and deckhand Pip eke out a comfortable existence on Butterfly Island ferrying cargo to and fro. Life is good, but it takes an unexpected turn when a barrel washes ashore containing a pig with a skull-and-crossbones pendant around her neck. It soon becomes clear that this little piggy, dubbed Julie, has the ability to sniff out treasure—lots of it—in the sea. The duo is pleased with her skills, but pride goeth before the hog. Stout Sam hands out some baubles to the local children, and his largess attracts the unwanted attention of Barracuda Bill and his nasty minions. Now they’ve pignapped Julie, and it’s up to the intrepid sailors to save the porker and their own bacon. The succinct word count meets the needs of kids looking for early adventure fare. The tale is slight, bouncy, and amusing, though Julie is never the piratical buccaneer the book’s cover seems to suggest. Meanwhile, Meyer’s cheery watercolors are as comfortable diagramming the different parts of a pirate vessel as they are rendering the dread pirate captain himself.
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure. (Adventure. 7-9)Pub Date: June 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37544-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
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