Tag: music

Somebody to Love: The Story of Valerie June’s Sweet Little Baby Banjolele (Valerie June)

Leave a comment

Hello, friends! Our book today is Somebody to Love: The Story of Valerie June’s Sweet Little Baby Banjolele, written by Valerie June and illustrated by Marcela Avelar, a tale of fulfilling dreams and having faith in one’s voice.

For little Valerie’s birthday, she is given a most unusual “toy” instrument, a banjolele (a small, four-stringed combination of banjo and ukelele). The little banjolele makes the most delightful sounds, tings and rings that help it to sing. Valerie adores her new friend, and takes it to a musical meetup, but the banjolele is too nervous to finish the song. Placing the instrument in a corner, Valerie forgets about her friend for years, and goes on to become a traveling musician, as the banjolele gathers dust and becomes obscured from view. That is, until the night that the household awakes to a lonely song, one that the banjolele cannot help but sing any longer.

Ambitious yet confusing. June’s story is based on her real-life “Baby” Banjolele, which she anthropomorphizes here to tell a classic lesson in letting one’s voice be heard. It’s a message with perennial resonance, yet it gets bogged down here in the often-confusing storyline, where the passage of time, symbolic relationship between artist and instrument, and inconsistent characterization are a little too enigmatic to fully engage the reader. For instance, it’s hard to empathize with Valerie’s professed deep connection to the instrument when readers just watched it be placed in a corner, left alone and forgotten for years, especially since it is defined as sentient. The book’s strongest element are Avelar’s gorgeous, rich illustrations, which are stunning works of watercolor and graphite with pops of texture and pattern. The length is fine for a storytime, and JJ really enjoyed the art, but the uneven story and a jarring spelling error halfway through made reading aloud a little clunky. This one is a worth a look (and June’s beautiful song, “Somebody to Love,” is absolutely worth a listen!); even if the story is not to your taste, the remarkable artwork may be. Overall, Baby Bookworm approved.

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by a representative of the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

Jazz for Lunch! (Jarrett Dapier)

Leave a comment

Hello, friends! Our book today is Jazz for Lunch!, written by Jarrett Dapier and illustrated by Eugenia Mello, a toe-tapping, finger-snapping musical, culinary romp.

A young boy has a lunch date with his Aunt Nina, and she’s taking him to the hottest and tastiest jazz club to enjoy some music and eats. Unfortunately, as great as the music sounds, the crowd forces Nina and her nephew to the back – they can’t see the band, the dancers step on their toes, service is taking forever, and its far too hot. Cutting out early, Aunt Nina promises a surprise for the next day: a jazz-inspired, home-cooked lunch. Nephew and aunt prep and cook together, listening to vinyls of the jazz greats and naming their culinary creations after them. And once lunch is ready, one more surprise is on the way – one that will lift this musical meal to a new level.

Electric. First, Dapier’s phenomenal rhythmic text is an absolute joy to read aloud, and metered perfectly to emulate the syncopation and tempo of an upbeat jazz tune. Mello’s illustrations are bright, colorful, and full of ecstatic life, perfectly melding musical and food imagery to fit the theme; they also feature a fantastic diversity of skintones, genders, hair textures, and body types (have I mentioned that I LOVE seeing kidlit with diverse body types?). Endpapers give twenty mini-biographies of the jazz legends mentioned within the story, a wonderful touch and well-integrated. The length is perfect for a story time, and JJ and I had a blast reading it. This is a entertaining title that is a wonderful way to introduce young readers to a new art form – jazz, cooking, or both! Highly recommended, and Baby Bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

King of Ragtime: The Story of Scott Joplin (Stephen Costanza)

Leave a comment

Hello, friends! Our book today was King of Ragtime: The Story of Scott Joplin by Stephen Costanza, a look into the early life and career of the American composer and pianist.

Born into a labor-class black family in the very recently emancipated state of Texas, Scott took an early interest in music and sound. His entire family had a passion for music, and every member played an instrument. While Scott’s father encouraged his son to work for the railroads – one of the few industries that offered steady work for black men at the time – Scott’s mother encouraged his creative talents, trading cleaning services with a piano teacher for her son’s lessons. Scott left home to pursue his music, playing in saloons, honky-tonks, and cafés, where his unique original songs earned the praise of patrons. Eventually, Scott settled in Missouri, attending college, teaching piano, and playing at a local club called the Maple Leaf. Transposing his unique style onto paper for the first time, he had a few duds before composing his most famous song, one that would go on to transform popular music: “Maple Leaf Rag”.

Informative and visually stunning. This picture book biography does a wonderful job of introducing Joplin, the times he lived in, and the formation of his unique musical style. Describing ragtime – the genre Joplin played a major part in bringing to popularity – as a patchwork, Constanza cleverly weaves the composer’s early influences into his life story, from the work songs and spirituals of his youth, to the Germanic songs his father learned under slavery, to the mainstream instrumentals he learned as a student. Music can be difficult to convey in book form, but the mixture of Costanza’s dynamic text, strategic use of emphasis and onomatopoeia, and dramatic, colorful illustrations creates a title that looks and reads like jazz. A sequence at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair is particularly gorgeous, and captures the dreamy whirlwind of musical inspiration. The length is best for older elementary-age bookworms – JJ was definitely beginning to get antsy by the end. But overall, this look at the life and early work of Joplin is a winner. Baby Bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

Music Is… (Stephen T. Johnson)

Leave a comment

Hello, friends! Our book today is Music Is… by Stephen T. Johnson, an introduction and exploration of ten different music genres in visuals, prose, and lyrics.

Music is… so many things. It can be the “poignant stories” of country, the “boom box beats” of hip-hop, the “rainbow of emotions” in rhythm and blues. It’s the sophisticated yet scattered sounds of jazz, the mix of soft and thunderous intensities in classical, or the catchy, evergreen melodies of pop. But most of all, music is… you! Your sound, your interpretation, your style. If it speaks to you, it’s music – and from there, the possibilities are endless.

Fun. While comprehensive by no means (the genres represented are almost entirely western, as are the suggested-listening example songs in the backmatter), this is a cute crash course in some of the most popular genres of music. Johnson does a great job of marrying the scrapbook-style artwork to the wonderfully expressive, imagistic text (“Heavy Metal is… roughened steel blazing a trail of light out of the darkness of an abyss” has to be one of the best sentences I’ve EVER read in a children’s book). A wealth of backmatter further explains the history, subgenres and common instruments of each genre as well, making the length great for either a quick storytime or a lengthier perusal, depending on how in-depth one wants to go. My one complaint, from a purely practical standpoint, is the unusual concertina binding, which makes the heavy book difficult to hold and balance for small hands or adults hoping to share with groups of little bookworms. Otherwise, we enjoyed this one, and would definitely recommend it for music lovers. Baby Bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

Somewhere Over The Rainbow (Mike Byrne)

Leave a comment

Hello, friends! Our book today is Somewhere Over The Rainbow, illus. by Mike Byrne, a colorful board book with a musical twist.

Using popular song titles to introduce the names of colors to little bookworms, each spread begins with a block color and the title that name-drops that particular shade (“PINK Moon”, “BROWN-Eyed Girl”, “BLUE Suede Shoes”, etc). The opposite page shows an illustration dominated by the featured hue, starring some cute animals hanging out with or displaying the literal interpretation of the song title.

Colorful but disappointing. When I heard the concept for this one, I was excited, but with the exception of some very cute art, this mostly feels like a missed opportunity. The minimalist text is very limiting, especially for young (or even older) readers who are not familiar with with songs being named. In fact, since the song titles are not even identified by artist, readers would have to search outside the title to match the song to its band if they didn’t recognize it(with varied success; “Green Light” by Beyoncé? By Lorde? By John Legend?). The art is very sweet, but similarly feels detached from the songs, showing only the literal interpretation of the title with few exceptions, the most notable of which is a French poodle and its owner wearing some vaguely punk accoutrements for “White Wedding” (which, incidentally, was our favorite illustration). So while the idea of using pop songs to teach colors is a great one, this just feels like it missed the mark, in a way that does little to differentiate it from any other color-learning book. Otherwise, the length was fine, and JJ did enjoy the artwork. So while we weren’t blown away by the execution, this one is still Baby Bookworm approved.

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)