PPBF: Jazz Day

 

Today's Perfect Picture Book Friday pick

The making of a Famous Photograph

Jazz Day:
The Making of A Famous Photograph

Written by Roxane Orgill
Illustrated by Francis Vallejo


Candlewick, 2016
Grades 3-7, 66pp



Themes:
Non-fiction, Poetry, Music, History, Photography


Opening:
In 1958, Art Kane had a crazy idea. Gather as many jazz musicians as possible in one place for a black-and-white photograph, like a kind of graduation picture. Kane was a graphic designer and a jazz buff, not a photographer. He didn't even own a proper camera. But he pitched the idea to the boss at Esquire Magazine, and the boss went for it.

Synopsis:
This startlingly beautiful collection of poems carries the varied rhythm of a jazz band repertoire. The poems are grouped to tell the story of a famous photograph taken for Esquire in 1958, which set out to gather all the great names in jazz music in one place for posterity. This fully-packed volume includes an introduction, author's note, bibliography, links, biographies of the various performers, and a page on the Harlem Renaissance. It's awesome!


What I Love:
I don't always react as I should to poetry and I only like hot jazz, but this book fascinated me from page one. The author's fluid poetry was expressive, scintillating, exuberant: everything I love about jazz. The emotional illustration style complimented the captivating poems. Each of the twenty-one poems varies in style, but each carries the right tone, whether introducing a jazz great or setting the scene through a child's eyes. The back matter tells the whole story in delightful detail. I'd love to see this in libraries and classrooms. It's an engaging book which will fill a gaping hole in our kids' educations.


Bonus:
1. Fellow PPBF reviewer Patricia Nozell posted this book last July.

2. Read The Horn Book interview with the author, or visit the Q & A from Bookology about the making of the book.

3. Check out an interesting interview with the illustrator featured on Multicultural Children's Book Day. You can read his acceptance speech for the BGHB picture book award on their website.

4. The history of jazz music for kids, on Ducksters.

5. Learn about the Harlem Renaissance, linking the setting to the photo which inspired Jazz Day.

6. The video at right shows the illustrator talking about his creative process.

7. Check out these and more Perfect Picture Books at your local library. 

Reviewed by Vivian

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Reviewed by Vivien



Reviewed by Barbara

 



Reviewed by Patricia



Reviewed by Jarm





Reviewed by Leslie

Reviewed by Sue and Joanne



Have you reviewed a Perfect Picture Book along this theme? Please leave the link in the comments below. Thanks!

Check out all the recommended titles for Perfect Picture Book Friday
for Friday, April 28, 2017 available on Susanna Leonard Hill's blog.