148. Jazz for Lunch

Jazz for Lunch! Jarrett Dapier. Illustrated by Eugenia Mello. 2021. [September] 48 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Struttin' with Auntie Nina
down to a club,
We're gonna hear some music
and then eat some grub.

Premise/plot: Jazz for Lunch! celebrates jazz music, food, and family. Auntie Nina and her nephew have a special relationship. She shares her love for cooking and her love for JAZZ with her young nephew...teaching him both how to cook and how to appreciate jazz.

This book--entirely written in rhyme--starts with the two going to a jazz club. But it also has the two going to her place to cook a great meal (while listening to jazz).

Jazz for LUNCH!
The beats got SOUL!
Jazz for LUNCH!
Ham on a ROLL!
Jazz for LUNCH!
The tunes got swing!
Jazz for LUNCH!
Shout, dance, and sing!

(Jazz for lunch being the refrain carried throughout the picture book.)

My thoughts: This book celebrates so many things. Yet it never seems too busy. It feels natural--right. The end papers--if you pay close attention--can serve as an introduction to readers of all ages of some jazz legends.

 

© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers

The Nutcracker in Harlem

The Nutcracker in Harlem. T.E. McMorrow. Illustrated by James Ransome. 2017. 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: It was snowing in Harlem on Christmas Eve. The party at Marie's house swirled with colors, gold and red and green. Mama and Poppy were dancing. Miss Addie sang, and Uncle Cab played the piano. Marie loved the sound of Christmas.

Premise/plot: This picture book is an adaptation of The Nutcracker. In this adaptation, the story is set in Harlem during the 1920s. Marie, the heroine, is a bit shy or hesitant; she hasn't found her confidence yet to sing or dance, to join in the vibrant life of her family and community. All that will change one magical Christmas Eve.

My thoughts: I liked this one. I liked this creative retelling.

This book would pair well with Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite by Anna Harwell Celenza. The two books set out to do different things. One is a retelling of a traditional story in a new setting. The other is based on a true story, of how Duke Ellington transformed the Nutcracker Suite into JAZZ.

But both celebrate LIVING LIFE. Even if you don't seek out this other picture book, do give Ellington's Nutcracker Suite a listen. I do think the music would provide a great soundtrack for McMorrow's picture book.  

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10


© 2017 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Play, Louis, Play

Play, Louis, Play!: The True Story of A Boy and His Horn. Muriel Harris Weinstein. Illustrated by Frank Morrison. 2010.  [December 2010] Bloomsbury. 112 pages.

There isn't a jazzman in New Orleans who hasn't tapped my brain about Louis Armstrong. They talk to me as if sugar's sprinkled on their tongue. "Hey, you knew Louis like no one else. What's the pitch, the real story?" These jazzmen know I know. I ought to. I was Little Louis' horn, the first horn he ever played.

I'm not sure a book narrated by a horn should have the word true in the title. Though that could be just me, I suppose. I love Louis Armstrong. I do. I love listening to his music. I love reading about him, too. I've read a few picture books and chapter books--some nonfiction, some fiction. I think it's wonderful that there is such a rich amount of books about jazz and jazz musicians for young readers. (Picture books, poetry books, chapter books, etc.)

Play, Louis, Play is reader-friendly, I think. The book covers the earliest years of his life--his childhood to the beginning of his success. It covers the good times and the bad times. And in his childhood, there were plenty of not-so-good times. Hunger, poverty, misdirection. But music saved Louis Armstrong in more ways than one. While I wish--I really wish--it had been told by a human narrator, the facts remain the facts. The story is interesting despite the fact that you have to suspend your disbelief from cover to cover.

Readers might also be interested in Eric Kimmel's A Horn for Louis. And I really enjoyed The Louis Armstrong You Never Knew by James Lincoln Collier.



© 2011 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Before John Was a Jazz Giant

Weatherford, Carole Boston. 2008. Before John Was A Jazz Giant. Illustrated by Sean Qualls.

I just loved, loved, loved this one! It just excites me through and through. It just works. So many things to love, so many reasons why. I don't think I can do it justice. But I'll try. I'll try. The book--beautifully illustrated, award-worthy illustrations in my humble opinion--is a poetic tribute to the legendary John Coltrane. Each stanza of the poem begins with the refrain, "Before John was a jazz giant..." Each stanza gives the reader information about John's life--his family, his childhood, his background, his surroundings, etc. Weatherford's writing is just incredible--beautiful, rhythmic, and oh-so-right. The images she creates just resonate. I don't want to quote too much, but I don't want to quote too little either. These are the first two stanzas...

Before John was a jazz giant,
he heard hambones knocking in Grandma's pots,
Daddy strumming the ukulele,
and Mama cranking the phonograph.

Before John was a jazz giant,
he heard steam engines whistling past,
Cousin Mary giggling at jitterbuggers,
and Bojangles tap-dancing in the picture show.

I just loved the ending--adored it. But I'm not going to share that here. You need to pick this one up on your own!

Both the illustrations and the text were outstanding on this one.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat

Weinstein, Muriel Harris. 2008. When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.

Quick summary of this one...a girl listens (along with her mother) to Louis Armstrong on the radio and becomes interested in scat. That night in bed, she imagines having a private scat lesson (or should that be session?) with Satchmo himself. This scat session is all about bubble gum in all its gooey wonder.

This leads to some wonderfully rhythmic poetry (I'm only going to quote a bit of it. It goes on much longer than this.):

Rippety wrapper
Glittery new
Pinkety sweet
Stickety chew
Squash-itee
Stretch-itee
Gummity thick
Squooz-itee
Oooz-itee
Blowity quick!
Chew-itee
Chew-itee
Chew-itee
Chop
Crackity
Snappity
Poppity!
Pop!!!

I just loved that. Isn't it great??? There is much to love in this one. Then again, I love Louis Armstrong, so that may prejudice me a little. But I just really really enjoyed this one.

Last year, I simply fell in love with Jazz Baby. I loved, loved, loved the rhythm and the rhymes. It just worked really well. But one of the things I loved most about it were the illustrations. This book, When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat, is illustrated by the same man: the great and wonderful, R. Gregory Christie.

According to Amazon, this one doesn't release until Christmas Eve.

From the publisher:

When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat -- In a CRACKITY-SNAPPITY-POPPITY-POP bubblegum dream, a young girl learns to scat from the master himself, Louis Armstrong! Written in prose and scat with wild and wonderful illustrations by R. Gregory Christie, this joyful tribute is downright contagious. CHEW-ITEE CHEW-ITEE CHEW-ITEE CHOP, CRACKITY SNAPPITY POPPITY POP!

A former elementary school teacher, Muriel Harris Weinstein has taught children's poetry, prose, and playwriting at the United Nations School and the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. She lives in Great Neck, New York. R. Gregory Christie is a three-time recipient of a Coretta Scott King Award in Illustration, and two of his books, Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth and Stars in Darkness, were named New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Illustrator's website.
© Becky Laney of Young Readers