Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!: Presenting Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock & Roll

Bolden keeps the music foremost in readers’ minds as she tracks Tharpe’s life spent singing in fields, churches, and concert halls, a chorus of “Rock, Rosetta, rock! Roll, Rosetta, roll!” following her.... Terrific for all collections that want to encourage the musically inclined and highlight innovative pioneers. 

Gr 1-4--Rosetta Tharpe was an American singer and guitarist who rose up in gospel music and broke into the mainstream of American music in the 1930s and 1940s. She influenced many well-known musicians, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, and Aretha Franklin. Told in free verse, this picture book biography chronicles her life, from her upbringing in rural Cotton Plant, AK, to accompanying her preacher mother to Chicago, to making a life for herself in New York City. She sang in churches and nightclubs, including the Cotton Club and the Apollo in Harlem. Christie's vibrant illustrations bring the story to life with movement and punch, matching Tharpe's personality. A time line in the back matter further fleshes out her personal life and career. VERDICT A fresh and female addition to the music legend canon, just in time for Black History Month displays. Purchase where picture book biographies, especially those about musicians/rock history, circulate well.--Jennifer Noonan

Music reverberates throughout this striking biographical tribute to rock and roll trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973). Starting as a "pint-size sensation in tiny/ Cotton Plant, Arkansas," Tharpe is known for having "music in your air,/ in your hair,/ in your bones,/ wiggling your toes." Traveling to Chicago with her mother, she accompanies Mama's preaching in churches, at revivals, and on street corners, until, "all grown," she "gifted Gospel music big-time/ to people all over the place," interweaving the form with "cousin Boogie-Woogie,/ Cousin Jazz,/ Cousin Swing,/ Cousin the big, bad Blues." As she performs the world over, her style introduces a sound that saw "lots of younger cats--some future legends--/ ... Diggin' your licks./ Coppin' your style." Bolden uses alliteration, assonance, repetition, and rhythm to create an irresistibly musical text that effectively communicates the feel of Tharpe's music. Christie's lively illustrations render elongated forms with exaggerated expressions against color-block backgrounds, capturing the physicality of Tharpe's performance style and the intensity of her sound. A timeline and author's note follow. Ages 4-8. (Feb.)