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Jazz
CCBC Review:
Following a lively, informative introduction that offers an explanation and brief history of jazz, Walter Dean Myers offers fifteen poems that bring the music to life in a fusion of rhythm and words. “What did the world see? / What did the world hear? / Black men sweating in 4/4 time / Behind the beat, around the beat, / Bending the in-between” (from “America’s Music”). The poems reference the roots of the music as well many forms of musical expression embodied in the idea of jazz. Slow, sultry, upbeat, driving, the mood and pace of each poem shifts to reflect a new or different truth about jazz. The same is true of Christopher Myers’s expressive, deeply felt paintings, that are both accompaniment and stage for the words. ©2006 Cooperative Children's Book Center
Illustrated by Christopher Myers
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 10 and older
Age Range:
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Poetry
Subjects:
20th Century
African Americans
History (Nonfiction)
Music and Musicians
Diversity subject:
Black/African
Publisher:
Holiday House
Publish Year: 2006
Pages: 44
ISBN: 0823415457
CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 811 Myers