A Child's Introduction to Jazz: The Musicians, Culture, and Roots of the World's Coolest Music (Child's Introduction)

by Jabari Asim (Author) Jerrard K Polk (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4^th − 5^th Grade

Get ready to swing with A Child's Introduction to Jazz, an interactive journey into one of the richest and most soulful music genres in the world. Listen while you learn with QR codes that will connect you to the instruments and musical flair of jazz.

Welcome to jazz! Feel the music and rhythms of all the different styles of jazz, from swing and Dixieland to the blues and bebop, with this interactive introduction to the world's coolest music.

Author Jabari Asim will take you on the journey through the history of jazz as you discover the most important musicians and singers while hearing some really cool sounds. You'll learn all about the roots of jazz in Africa and New Orleans and how the music traveled to different parts of the United States and around the world. Along the way you'll meet legendary trumpeter Louis Armstrong, who shaped a new form of jazz called improvisation; pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington, who helped create the big band sound of the swing era; and the singer Billie Holiday, whose songs such as "God Bless the Child," "Don't Explain," and "Lady Sings the Blues" have become jazz standards.

Listen along to the sounds of jazz by downloading music and hearing instruments such as trumpets, clarinets, trombones, and even singers scatting as they improvise melodies. With a pull-out poster showing the different instruments of jazz, A Child's Introduction to Jazz hits the perfect beat and will have you bebopping and scatting in no time!

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Kirkus

Both anecdotal and encompassing, this attentive introduction ably prepares readers for further learning—and listening.

School Library Journal

Gr 3-7--Early jazz, bebop, jazz fusion, and more are covered in this beautifully and thoughtfully laid-out book. Every page has large full-color illustrations that highlight small orchestras, fashion of the era, lovely rendered images of many instruments, and more. Included are "Listen Along" boxes with QR codes on some pages to hear samples of jazz through the ages. A variety of instruments, bands, and voices are featured on these recordings. Many famous musicians are highlighted, including Wynton Marsalis, Chick Corea, and others dating back to early musicians Jelly Roll Morton and Bessie Smith. Musical novelties, the history of select instruments, and tidbits about American history as it relates to music, all give a well-rounded view of jazz. For those so inclined, this book truly does cover "The Musicians, Culture, and Roots of Jazz" as the subtitle advertises. The writing seems a bit elevated for the intended age group, although a precocious reader or an avid jazz fan could likely breeze through this very well-researched book. VERDICT For those interested in an attractive and comprehensive history of jazz, this book is a must-have.--Linda Annable

Review quotes

Jabari Asim

Jabari Asim (therealjabariasim.com) is an accomplished poet, playwright, and writer, and has been described as one of the most influential African American literary critics of his generation. Asim has served as the editor-in-chief of Crisis magazine--the NAACP's flagship journal of politics, culture, and ideas--and as an editor at The Washington Post. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in Creative Arts and is the author of many award-winning books for adults and children, including Preaching to the Chickens (art by E.B. Lewis), which was a New York Times Best Illustrated Book. He is an Associate Professor of writing, literature, and publishing at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.

AG Ford (agfordillustration.com) is a three-time New York Times bestselling children's book illustrator and recipient of two NAACP Image Awards. He has illustrated picture books by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sharon Robinson, Ilyasah Shabazz, Martin Luther King III, Nick Cannon, Jonah Winter, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He lives with his family in Frisco, Texas.

Classification

Non-fiction

ISBN-13

9780762479412

Lexile Measure

Guided Reading Level

Publisher

Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers

Publication date

December 27, 2022

Series

Child's Introduction

BISAC categories

JNF036040 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Music | Jazz

Library of Congress categories

Jazz musicians
History and criticism
Jazz

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