Author/Illustrator: Leo Dillion & Diane Dillon
Welcome to Saturday night at a 1940’s era jazz club; an all star lineup of jazz greats is about to perform. Uncomplicated rhyming text highlights the show providing an overview of jazz music, instrumentation, and the overall musical wonder transfixing the audience. Deep, richly colored illustrations highlight the text as double page spreads draw attention to each musician in turn. Focus moves seamlessly between audience and performer, while the deft use of color and light prove it is possible to see music, “The curtain is closed, but we still hold the glow.” While it may seem impractical to visually present jazz music, this book is up to the task. Additional information in the form of a brief introduction and brief biographies of jazz musicians are provided. An accompanying CD features the Dillon’s introducing “jazz and the instruments in this book,” as well as their original song “Jazz on a Saturday Night,” performed by Ira Ingber.
Quick catalog links: Jazz musicians - biography - juvenile literature, Jazz - History and criticism - juvenile literature, Jazz - juvenile literature, Jazz - juvenile fiction
Tags: Leo Dillon, Diane Dillon,Jazz on a Saturday Night, Ashland University, Ashland University Library, Ashland University Library IRC, IRC book reviews
Welcome to Saturday night at a 1940’s era jazz club; an all star lineup of jazz greats is about to perform. Uncomplicated rhyming text highlights the show providing an overview of jazz music, instrumentation, and the overall musical wonder transfixing the audience. Deep, richly colored illustrations highlight the text as double page spreads draw attention to each musician in turn. Focus moves seamlessly between audience and performer, while the deft use of color and light prove it is possible to see music, “The curtain is closed, but we still hold the glow.” While it may seem impractical to visually present jazz music, this book is up to the task. Additional information in the form of a brief introduction and brief biographies of jazz musicians are provided. An accompanying CD features the Dillon’s introducing “jazz and the instruments in this book,” as well as their original song “Jazz on a Saturday Night,” performed by Ira Ingber.Quick catalog links: Jazz musicians - biography - juvenile literature, Jazz - History and criticism - juvenile literature, Jazz - juvenile literature, Jazz - juvenile fiction
Tags: Leo Dillon, Diane Dillon,Jazz on a Saturday Night, Ashland University, Ashland University Library, Ashland University Library IRC, IRC book reviews
Blue boy and Polly, his calf, live in a land where everything, including them, is blue. They dream of seeing other places of colors and travel to lands of yellow, purple, orange, red, pink, and green. Blue and Polly feel oddly out of place in each as the only thing blue, but soon arrive in a wondrous multi-colored city. It fills them with joy until they notice once again they are the only blue thing. Gathering his courage, Blue decides to add his own hues to the city so it will represent all colors and but enable him to remain true to self. In doing so, “He wasn’t just blue anymore. He was every color of the world.” Vibrant illustrations, done on watercolor paper and colorized by computer, are saturated with color making Blue and Polly starkly noticeable on the landscape when visiting each land. This book is a nice introduction to multiculturalism for youngsters and would be suitable for discussions regarding courage and self worth. Grades K-3.
