Jazz by Walter Dean Myers Book Review

 

We are entering the vivacious world of jazz music with this book review!

Book Review #7, Jazz

1.       Bibliography: Myers, Walter Dean. Holiday House; 2008. ISBN: 9780823421732.

2.       Plot Summary: This is a book of 15 poems that celebrates jazz music and its musicians, starting in the beginning with some introductions, and ending in New Orleans, followed by a glossary of jazz terminology. The book is a celebration of jazz music and culture.

3.       Critical Analysis: This is a very fun book that is sure to increase jazz appreciation. The introduction of the book explains jazz elements, such as melody and rhythm, explain how African and European music were influential in this movement. A history of the jazz movement follows, ending with “Ultimately it becomes, like all art, a dialogue between the artist and the audience, a dialogue that is still vital, still fun, and still America’s gift to the world.” The book then emerges into its fifteen poems. Each page has words written in multiple colors, emphasizing important parts of the poem, as well as possible musical elements. In “Stride”, notes are written above the lines, such as “singing heart” and “bump beat”. This could lend itself to a poem read in two voices, where one person reads the regular lines, and another with the notes. In “Session II”, the word, “mercy” is written in yellow. This word also is repeated several times throughout the poem. The coloring helps to showcase the importance of the repetition. Each poem is accompanied by a beautiful illustration. The art appears to be oil paintings, done in bright, jazzy colors to match the musical quality of the poetry. The last poem, “It’s Jazz”, shows two people dancing in bright green and purple, against the backdrop of yellow. Lots of musical instruments incorporated into jazz music appear in the illustrations too, such as trumpets, drums, and the piano. This would be a great way to teach children about instruments, and the important role they play in various types of music. Both the words and illustrations appear to be constantly in motion. “Goodbye to Old Bob Johnson” shows people dancing, moving, and marching with music. Some of the dancers hold umbrellas. The text matches its vibrancy, with words such as “move along, move along” (preceded by the word faster, to show how it should be read), and “We’re stepping, and we’re hipping.” Emotion is strong in this book. “Jazz Vocal” uses alliteration with lines such as “A sultry love song, sassy as a summer day”. This line creates strong imagery of a heated summer day as the poem moves into describing love and a love song. Readers can sense the strong romantic love emotions in this poem with the combination of language and imagery. It ends with “The melody and beat are blending to a happy-ever after ending for you and me.” Readers will most likely be familiar with the phrase, “happy-ever after”, and can link that to love and romance. The book ends with a glossary of jazz terminology along with a time line, which is helpful in the continuing education of jazz music. Words such as boogie and blow are defined, as well as mentions of influential people such as Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. This is not just a poetry book, but a history book and music education book as well.

4.       Review Excerpts:

·         Coretta Scott King Honor Book, 2006

·         From Booklist, “An absolutely airtight melding of words and pictures that is perfectly accessible to a younger audience.”

·         From Kirkus, “A welcome addition the literature of jazz.”

·         From The Horn Book, “Readers will find music coming irresistibly into their heads.”

5.       Connections: Display with other jazz related children’s books.

·         Pinkney, Andrea. Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and his Orchestra, Hyperion Book CH. ISBN: 9780786814206

·         Wheeler, Lisa.  Jazz Baby, HMH Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 9780152025229

·         Novesky, Amy. Mister and Lady Day, HMH Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 9780544809055

·         Marsalis, Wynton. Jazz ABZ: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits, Candlewick. ISBN: 9780763621353

Have a jazz musician or band come to the library and demonstrate the sounds mentioned in the book.

Bring some toy instruments to the library. Have children play with them and try to make their own music.

Have older children research jazz musicians from the book. They can make posters for display in the library.