Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters

K-Gr 3--This picture book biography tells the story of the early life of McKinley Morganfield (1913-83), aka Muddy Waters, an American blues legend. Born in rural Mississippi and raised by his Grandma Della, Waters was interested in music from an early age and improvised his own homemade instruments. He faced opposition throughout, from disapproving family members to sharecropper bosses, but resisted and persevered, as he was "never good at doing what he was told." Eventually Waters moved to Chicago, where he helped develop the unique "Chicago Blues" style, merging the popular jazz of the day with traditional Delta blues from the South. The story is lyrically told with a lilting cadence by debut author Mahin. His descriptions are vivid (the "sound of the delta, buzzing and mad like an angry hornet's nest looking for a fight"), and his explanations of blues music are simple and accessible. Turk's mixed-media illustrations leap off the page. His folk-art images weave together painting with newspaper clipping collages, pastel lines, and ink prints to create a truly recognizable style, rich with color and texture. Music is portrayed in abstract patterns and zigzag lines, and the soul of the blues sings out through the pages. VERDICT A worthy addition to biography collections, shedding light on an important figure in U.S. music history.--Clara Hendricks, Cambridge Public Library, MA

Born McKinley Morganfield, the boy who would become guitarist Muddy Waters embraced the blues from an early age, even if the grandmother who raised him didn't approve: "Last I checked, you can't eat the blues for breakfast." Debut author Mahin's dialogue is invented, but it paints a vivid picture of Waters's determination to make it as a blues musician, eventually leaving his sharecropping life in Mississippi for Chicago. Like Waters's music after landing in the Windy City, Turk's artwork is electric--wild strokes of marker and oil pastel vibrate with energy. And Mahin's equally vivid writing will almost certainly send readers after Waters's catalogue: "It felt honest and raw. It felt real. It felt like the past and the future and the country and the city all rolled into one." Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Minju Chang, Bookstop Literary. Illustrator's agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Sept.)