Module 5 - Lee Bennett Hopkins Award

Bibliographic Citation
Myers, Walter Dean. 2006. Jazz. Ill. by Christopher Myers. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 9780823415458.

Awards
Lee Bennett Hopkins Award, 2007
Coretta Scott King Honor Book, 2007

Review

Walter Dean Myers turns his written words into musical poems that chronicle the history of jazz in its early days in New Orleans. Christopher Myers uses black ink and bold acrylic colors to bring sound to each poem by creating movement within each illustration by means of curved lines, and also creating faces that express emotions captured by music. Fifteen poems take on the voice, rhythm, and beat as they rat-a-tat, slide, thump, and scat along each page. “Thum, thum, thum, and/thumming/I feel the ocean rhythm/coming/Thum, thum, thum, and/thumming/I feel the midnight passion/humming” After reading this “Bass” selection, click on the link from Audio File to listen, http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/dbsearch/showreview.cfm?Num=29749

Poem Title

Louie, Louie, How You Play So Sweet?

Louie, Louie, how you play so sweet?
What have you heard, down on Bourbon Street?
“I heard London
Turned it black and blue
Heard Copenhagen
Played it my way, too
Heard a sad song
Swung it into joy
Heard a bad tune
Spanked it like a naughty boy.”
Louie, Louie, how you play so sweet?
What have you heard, down on Bourbon Street?

Introduction or Follow-up Activity

This picture book of jazz would be a wonderful introduction for a unit of study on biographies and famous African Americans. As noted in the book’s jazz time line, several famous African American musicians were instrumental in introducing jazz to the public. The poem shared above speaks of the great Louis Armstrong and his time spent in New Orleans. It would be interesting to read these poems and have the students locate music they feel would best fit each of the poems. Most students enjoy music and would like to listen to the various styles of jazz, or selections from the artists mentioned. This would also make a nice collaborative teaching unit between the librarian and music teacher.