AUDIO BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
Selections by Gwendolyn E. Osborne
June is Black Music Month. It is also Audio Book Month. There is a wealth of read along books on cassette or CD that introduce children to the richness of the African American musical heritage (June 2007).
Blues Journey
Click to order via Amazon
(Hardcover/Paperback/Cassette/CD)
by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Christopher Myers
From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. The blues' deceptively simple rhyme scheme tracks the deeper feelings
of lives that have been bruised. In this picture book for older readers, Myers
offers blues-inspired verse that touches on the black-and-blue moments of
individual lives. His son Christopher's images, which illustrate the
call-and-response text, alternate between high spirited and haunting. Myers
begins with a very necessary introduction to the history of the blues that
includes an explanation of the rhyme scheme. Still, the level of sophistication
necessary for kids to get into the book is considerable:
Strange fruit hanging, high in the big oak tree
Strange fruit hanging high in the big oak tree
You can see what it did to Willie,
and you see what it did to me.
Myers' original verse is unsettling if young people know the reference from the Billie Holiday song, but unclear if they don't ("strange fruit" is defined in the glossary). The accompanying illustration, though it's one of the less inspired ones, helps clarify things--a boy walks in a crowd carrying a sign saying, "yesterday a man was lynched." But there's no cohesion between the spreads, and the next one features a blues singer at a mike: "The thrill is gone, but love is still in my heart . . . I can feel you in the music and it's tearing me apart." Much of Myers' poetry here is terrific, by turn, sweet, sharp, ironic, but it's the memorable collage artwork, executed in the bluest of blue ink and brown paper, that will draw readers first. Once inside the book, some children will immediately hear the songs the poetry sings; others will have to listen more closely. Ilene Cooper Copyright � American Library Association. All rights reserved �This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Charlie Parker Played Be Bop
Hardcover (Click to order via Amazon)
Paperback/Cassette/CD (Click to order via Amazon)
by Chris Raschaka, performed by Richard Allen
It would seem a riddle worthy of the sphinx: how do you give children a sense of jazz music without playing a note? Chris Raschka answers loudly and clearly with the illustrated, syncopated Charlie Parker Played Be Bop. This sparse, rhythmic, repetitive text (inspired by a recording of Parker's "A Night in Tunisia") embraces and reflects the sound and feel of jazz when read aloud: "Charlie Parker played be bop. / Charlie Parker played saxophone. / The music sounded like be bop. / Never leave your cat alone." Whether in complete phrases or in nonsense refrains that taste like music in your mouth ("Alphabet alphabet, alphabet, alph, / Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee, chick, / Overshoes, overshoes, overshoes, o, / Reeti-footi, reeti-footi, reeti-footi, ree."), Raschka brings melody to the page, and rhythm to eager ears.
Raschka, whose Yo! Yes? won a Caldecott Honor, and whose Mysterious Thelonious--another ebullient, musical exploration of a jazz legend--was named a 1997 ALA Notable Book, proves once again that he is just as at home with a paintbrush as he is with a pen. His bold, quirky illustrations add movement and light to the words, buoying their already lyrical effect. Charlie Parker Played Be Bop is a colorful, whimsical romp through the world of jazz, sure to set young and old toes a-tapping. (Ages 4 to 8) --Brangien Davis �This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Duke Ellington: The Piano
Prince and his Orchestra
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Amazon (Hardcover/Paperback/Cassette/CD)
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney, performed by Forrest Whittaker, Weston Woods
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, "King of the Keys," was born on April 29, 1899, in Washington, D.C. "He was a smooth-talkin', slick-steppin', piano-playin' kid," writes master wordsmith Andrea Pinkney in the rhythmic, fluid, swinging prose of this excellent biography for early readers. It was ragtime music that first "set Duke's fingers to wiggling." He got back to work and taught himself to "press on the pearlies." Soon 19-year-old Duke was playing compositions "smoother than a hairdo sleeked with pomade" at parties, pool halls, country clubs, and cabarets. Skipping from D.C. to 1920s Harlem, "the place where jazz music ruled," Duke and his small band called the Washingtonians began performing in New York City clubs, including the Cotton Club, where Duke Ellington and his Orchestra was officially born. By 1943, Duke Ellington--writer of more than 1000 compositions, including ballet and film scores, orchestral suites, musicals, and choral works--had made it all the way to Carnegie Hall.
We applaud this talented husband-and-wife team--award-winning illustrator Brian Pinkney and writer Andrea Pinkney--for making music fly in this fantastic tribute to a jazz legend. Andrea does an extraordinary job of translating music into words, with blues "deeper than the deep blue sea" and "hot-buttered bob, with lots of sassy-cool tones," while her husband visually interprets the movement of music as spirals, waves, and swirls of color, prepared as scratchboard renderings with luma dyes, gouache, and oil paint. Andrea writes, "Toby let loose on his sleek brass sax, curling his notes like a kite tail in the wind. A musical loop-de-loop, with a serious twist," while Brian paints those curling notes, the loop-de-loops, and the kite sailing up to the New York City skyline. Young readers will enjoy the rhythm and beauty of the story itself, and may even be inspired to give Raffi a rest and swing with the Duke! (Great read-aloud, ages 4 to 8) �Karin Snelson, Amazon.com Kids editor
Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a
Vocal Virtuosa
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by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney, performed by Billy Dee Williams, Weston Woods
The talented
husband-and-wife team behind Duke Ellington turns to jazz biography once
again, this time showcasing the First Lady of Song. Narrated by Scat Cat
Monroe, a feline in a zoot suit, the book spins four "tracks" on
Fitzgerald's life, from her childhood in Yonkers performing on street
corners, to her discovery at a 1934 talent contest at the legendary
Apollo Theatre to her move into the "ping-pong rhythms" of bebop.
Whether swinging at the Savoy "to a house packed tighter than the A
train" or breaking the racial barrier at many clubs ("Ella's popularity
showed them that a true star has no color it just shines"), the singer's
career is expertly framed to fit a picture book format. The prose, while
occasionally labored, swings to a syncopated beat and piles on the
synesthesia ("Ella rolled out a tune sweet enough to bake"; "Her voice
was quick-fried rhythm, with a brassy satin twist"). Brian Pinkney turns
out some of his best work yet. Rendered in a pleasingly high-contrast
palette of pastels, the scratchboard illustrations are invested with
magical realism, complete with dancers flying off the pages and
topsy-turvy musicians. A particularly memorable spread about Ella's hit
"How High the Moon" launches her into space on a trumpet with Dizzy
Gillespie. A "skippity-hop-doo-dee-bop" picture book. Ages 5-9.
�Copyright
2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
John Coltrane's Giant Steps
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by Chris Raschka, performed by Richard Allen
This innovative visual deconstruction of one of jazz
saxophonist Coltrane's most beloved compositions may be Raschka's (Mysterious
Thelonious) most ambitious picture book yet. After a playful introduction ("Good
evening. And thank you for coming to our book"), the unseen narratorconductor
introduces the performers a box, a snowflake, some raindrops and a kitten a
tongue-in-cheek nod to Coltrane's version of "My Favorite Things"). The book
does not require previous awareness of the jazz great's work, however. Each
performer (representing percussion, bass, piano and sax) appears in a different
color and shape (Raschka riffs on primary red, yellow and blue, and the basic
square, triangle and circle). The performance begins, only to be interrupted
when the kitten ("the melody on top of everything") takes steps a little too
large ("People, people! What happened?"). Some coaching finally produces what
Coltrane called "sheets of sound." Raschka's transparent watercolors layer
colors and shapes the way a musician would notes and harmonies. Stunningly
simple, the concept provides a compelling introduction to Coltrane's genius.
Those who possess a little musical knowledge will delight in such arch
references as "remixed by Chris Raschka" on the title page and the conductor's
hilarious critique ("First of all, raindrops, you were rushing on page 19").
Even the jacket repeats the book's central conceit: a clear plastic wrap
featuring the kitten, painted in thick black outline, overlays the other
elements. A must for jazz enthusiasts and, for first-timers, a clever
introduction to this wildly creative musical genre. Ages 4-7.
�Copyright
2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Mysterious Thelonious
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by Chris Raschka, performed by Richard Allen
Vibe, rhythm, beat! There have been many tributes to the great jazz composer and performer Thelonius Monk, but none so arresting and surround-sound-appealing as this small, unassuming book. If you're looking for verbose or technical explanations of Monk's music, look elsewhere. Here, you'll find nothing but pure, punchy music. Scant words jump and dance over pages that bear greater resemblance to musical staffs than still places for text to sit idly. Chris Raschka, creator of Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, uses beautiful watercolors to splash and adorn the pages' multi-boxed backgrounds in a smooth, harmonic pattern based on the tones of the chromatic scale. A groovy piano makes the occasional appearance, along with the slouchy, jivin', slumpy, jammin' image of Monk doing what he did best. Do not read this book--instead, sing it, swing it, and sway to its infectious music. (Ages 4 and up)
The Blues of Flats Brown
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Amazon
by Walter Dean Myers, Illustrated by Nina Laden, and performed by Charles Turner
Amazon.com
As this skilled duo did with Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride, Pam Mu�oz Ryan
and Brian Selznick bring to life the story of yet another remarkable American
woman, gifted black contralto Marian Anderson.
Undoubtedly one of America's greatest singers, Anderson was hardly known in her own country because of her race--music schools ignored her applications ("We don't take colored!") and even after she began singing professionally, many venues only featured white performers. Ryan's well-paced story becomes especially poignant as she recounts Anderson's overwhelming success in Europe ("one newspaper in Sweden called it 'Marian Fever' ... In Austria, the world-famous conductor Arturo Toscanini announced that what he had heard, one was privileged to hear only once in a hundred years"). The book reaches its climax with a wordless, deep brown two-page spread from Selznick, a crowd's-eye view of Anderson singing at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, an historic concert that drew an integrated audience of over 75,000.
Ryan's simple, metered text (punctuated frequently by lyrics) captures the quiet drama of Anderson's story, and kids will especially identify with the confusion and frustration of young Marian. And as with the pair's previous collaboration, Selznick's rich illustrations ably convey the undeniable strength and courage of a talented, determined woman. (Ages 4 to 8) �Paul Hughes
When Marian Sang: The True
Recital of Marian Anderson
Click to order via Amazon
by Pam Mu�oz Ryan; illustrated by Brian Selznick; read by Gail Nelson.
Amazon.com
As this skilled duo did with Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride, Pam Mu�oz Ryan
and Brian Selznick bring to life the story of yet another remarkable American
woman, gifted black contralto Marian Anderson.
Undoubtedly one of America's greatest singers, Anderson was hardly known in her own country because of her race--music schools ignored her applications ("We don't take colored!") and even after she began singing professionally, many venues only featured white performers. Ryan's well-paced story becomes especially poignant as she recounts Anderson's overwhelming success in Europe ("one newspaper in Sweden called it 'Marian Fever' ... In Austria, the world-famous conductor Arturo Toscanini announced that what he had heard, one was privileged to hear only once in a hundred years"). The book reaches its climax with a wordless, deep brown two-page spread from Selznick, a crowd's-eye view of Anderson singing at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, an historic concert that drew an integrated audience of over 75,000.
Ryan's simple, metered text (punctuated frequently by lyrics) captures the quiet drama of Anderson's story, and kids will especially identify with the confusion and frustration of young Marian. And as with the pair's previous collaboration, Selznick's rich illustrations ably convey the undeniable strength and courage of a talented, determined woman. (Ages 4 to 8) �Paul Hughes --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Dream Songs Night Songs
- Form China to Senegal
Click to Order from Publisher
"An added treat is the Dream Songs, Night Songs series from The Secret Mountain (www.thesecretmountain.com).
Each package consists of a CD and a 36page illustrated hardcover book. There are
more than a dozen lullabies from around the world and bedtime stories in
English, Spanish and French."
�Gwendolyn E. Osborne
A critically-acclaimed
award-winning album comprised of 14 lullabies from around the world,
with a bedtime story in English, Spanish and French. Each song,
performed in the original language, is distinctive and individually
appealing, blended into a whole.
Performers Carlos Placeres, Liu Fang, Sylva Balassanian, Idrissa
Sissokho, Connie Kaldor and Hart-Rouge share their culture in offering
lovely, warm lead vocals and harmonies, supported by a highly skilled
group of musicians playing more the 30 different instruments. The
earth-toned, dreamlike illustrations reflect both the subject and
country of origin of each song.
Illustrations: Sylvie Bourbonni�re