HOPKINS AWARD POETRY

Myers, Walter Dean.  Jazz.  New York:  Holiday House Books.  2006.  ISBN  9780823415458

SUMMARY:  This book of poetry celebrates the different styles of jazz in fifteen poems that reflect the sounds and colors of this truly American music.  The poems  cover every type of jazz experience, from ragtime to fusion.  This book is a visual, auditory, and energetic history of the world of jazz.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:   This book of poetry contains fifteen individual poems that focus on every aspect of the Jazz experience.  The author uses rhyme and rhythm to achieve an energetic feeling.  The author does a good job integrating words that help kids understand music of the time period. The text in the story is written in song. Each page represents a different song which represents a different kind of jazz.  Each page reveals a new element of the music. Visually, the font shows long white and short black piano keys. Christopher Myers uses black-inked acetate over colorful saturated acrylics. The illustrations give the feeling of low lit jazz clubs.  An introduction provides historical and technical background, briefly touching on influences, improvisation, rhythm, and race.  The book contains a glossary of Jazz terms and also gives readers a time line of the history of Jazz.  Students with no knowledge of jazz music will need to read the book’s introduction. Listening to jazz music beforehand, would also be helpful for students to fully appreciate this book of poetry.  Jazz should appeal to grades 4-8. 

POETRY EXCERPT:

America’s Music

“What did the world see?

What did the world hear?

Black men sweating in 4/4 time

Behind the beat, around the beat

Bending the in-between

Strings crying like midnight widows

Horns tearing down Jericho walls

A clarinet sassing

Its way through

A Sunday-night sermon

And the chorus calling out blues!

And ragtime!

And Jazz!

From Mississippi to Harlem

While the folks across the ocean

Were just saying

AMERICA”

EXTENTION ACTIVITY:  After reading, the teacher could find a nonfiction book about one of the characters in Jazz.  They could write down what they learned about the person through the poetry book, and then write new things they learned through the nonfiction book.  They could then decide what else they would like to know about the person, and use the internet to research their questions and provide the answers.  Then, each student or group could present their questions and answers to the class.

RESOURCES:

Myers, Walter Dean.  Jazz.  New York:  Holiday House Books.  2006.

Images by Google Images.