Customer Reviews

LITTLE CELEBRATIONS, CHARLIE PARKER PLAYED BE BOP, BIG BOOK AND TEACHER NOTES, EARLY, STAGE 2 (LITTLE CELEBRATIONS GUIDED READING)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this book because I love Charlie Parker and wanted to share that love with my then 6-month-old son (he's been listening to Charlie Parker on Phil Schaap's Birdflight since he came home from the hospital).

It immediately became his favorite book (he has over 100) and INSISTS that it be read to him 4-5 times per day. Frequently, we will have just finished it and he reaches for it again. One of his first 7 words is pa-ka (Parker)...it is his first two-syllable word! I would teach him to say "Bird," but I think that would confuse him right now. :-)

The pictures are wonderful! I particularly like the one of "Charlie Parker Played No Trombone" which shows Bird looking at a trombone and scratching his head.

The words and sounds are wonderful and convey the feeling and flavor of "Be Bop."

My son particularly loves the mysterious kitty...

My son is now 13 months old and it's still his favorite book BY FAR!

"Never leave your cat a-lone..."

Chris Raschka refuses to be neatly cataloged, noted, and tucked away in a file somewhere. When this man writes a picture book you really get the feeling that he's put his spine and soul into it. I've had the mixed pleasure of reading a wide variety of Raschka titles in my day. There was the original if somewhat misguided "John Coltrane's Giant Steps", the ridiculously simple but fun "Yo! Yes?", and that remarkable and odd, "The Genie In the Jar". If there's one connecting thread between his various works, it's probably rooted in Raschka's deep and abiding love of music. He's the only picture book artist I can think of that's introduced kids to everyone from Thelonious Monk to (amazing but true) Nina Simone. For the first time, however, I've found a Raschka book that I could fall head over heels in love with. Usually I respect the man's work without ever really enjoying his books, if that makes any sense. With "Charlie Parker Played Be Bop", however, I think Raschka's really tapped into something amazing.

The book's like a single, long poem. The reoccurring phrase is, "Charlie Parker played be bop" with the final line always, "Never leave your cat alone". That means that a stanza sounds something like, "Charlie Parker played be bop / Charlie Parker played saxaphone / The music sounded like be bop / Never leave your cat alone". You get the picture. Occasionally, however, this book goes all-out silly on you, but with a rhythm that's hard to ignore. "Be bop. Fisk, fisk. Lollipop. Boomba, boomba". And suddenly there are lollipops and odd blue nosed animals tramping across the page in a line, obviously in touch with the beat of the song. Things get wilder and wilder as the song continues and sometimes you see long lines of overshoes (walking on cute little blue feet of their own), letters in the alphabet, and chickadees be bopping their way down the line. Finally, we hit the last, "Never leave your cat alone", and a miserable if resigned pussy stares wearily into the distance.

There's an insanity to this book that's difficult to find in other picture books today. Somehow Raschka has managed to tap into just the right crazy childlike vein. Kids may not understand what's going on in these pages (and who would?) but they'll enjoy it just the same. Raschka's toned down his illustrations in a way as well. Things are kooky here, but they make sense. This is a kind of jazz put to paper, so there's an order and form to the (at first glance) weirdness. The pictures all make sense, even if they place bright blue feet on animals or objects that don't usually sport them.

If you'd like to expand your child's mind but you just can't figure out how to do so in the best possible way, might I suggest the incredible "Charlie Parker Played Be Bop". It's loony and lovable and just the right combination of unpredictable elements all merging together at once. A truly wild and wonderful picture book. Well done, Mr. Raschka. Well done.

Picked this book up at the Library after it was featured on PBS's Between The Lions. My son never put the book down, so we bought it. The book is fun, easy to read for children, and the pictures are great. Both my boys have it memorized and read it often.

I saw this book on "Between the Lions" and I loved it, so I bought it. I figured my daughter (then about 18 months) wouldn't have any interest, but I'd keep it until she got older. Boy, was I wrong. She loves it. She loves looking at it by herself and she loves us to read it to her. I'm not a major jazz fan, but the book is impossible to read without feeling the rhythm. The illustrations are fun and the cat looks just like ours!

I searched for this book after my 22 month old son's daycare provider shared how he had memorized it, and when prompted with "Charlie Parker plays..." would delightedly shout out "bee-bop!" We found it when on a trip for my sister's wedding, and we astounded all the relatives when he had essentially memorized the book. He would scat "fisk fisk" and "overshoes overshoes overshoes oh." He literally knows half the book. He had us all in stitches.

The illustrations in this book are fun, bright, and playful. The words trip across the page like the music does. It doesn't grow tiresome after repeated readings.

I highly recommend this book. And maybe play a little Bird while you're reading it!

I am a licensed preschool music teacher. I found "Charlie Parker...." and was immediately thrilled with it. I took it and read it to my preschool music classes, ages 3-5. The first time they heard it, they liked it but clearly were a little puzzled, I think because the book was outside their normal reading references. By the second or third time they heard it, they were tapping their feet and spontaneously moving to the jazz rhythms of the book. I'm on the fourth or fifth class reading of the book, and they dig it more every time! My sincere appreciation to Chris Raschka for creating such a wonderful experience in jazz for children (and grownups). I'm eagerly looking forward to "Mysterious Thelonious!"

Chris Raschka has written a book that captures of the rythmn and essence of Charlie Parker's music. This is a wonderful way to help children learn the sounds of letters and how the sounds combine to make words. Perfect for emergent readers. Excellent read a loud for younger children. The illustrations alone could classify this as a perfect picture book. But, the unique style and content of the text make it an appropriate addition to the library for any music teacher, art teacher, speech consultant, pre-school teacher or new parent. Its never too early to teach a child to read or cultivate an interest in jazz.

No doubt about it. A classic that has my three year old now in love with be bop. Beautiful, whimsical paintings and delicious text! A great alternative to usual kid book drivel and TV engineered pap like authur, bernstien bears and disney stuff. Looking for children's literature. You found it.

I am an elementary school music teacher with students ranging from pre-K to 5th grade. I read this book to all of my pre-K and kindergarten through second grade classes and sometimes the mood strikes me to read it to older students. There is something in here for most every age. Everyone loves it.

So why does Raschka draw chicken feet in such odd places, e.g., on overshoes, alphabet letters, pancake flippers?

Well, rumor has it that one day Charlie Parker was driving back to his boarding house and, as luck would have it, he hit and killed a chicken that had run out into the street from someone's front yard. Such chickens are called "yardbirds". The alleged events include Parker doing the unthinkable, namely, backing up his car, picking up the dead chicken (aka "roadkill"), taking it to his landlady (hey, it was fresh!), her cooking it, and him eating it. When friends heard this story, Parker was known forever after as "Yardbird", which was eventually shortened to just "Bird".

If you didn't catch the part about the chicken feet on your own, don't feel badly. Insiders like Rachka and myself know it and now you do too. Rachka has done a terrific job in providing a lot of feeling about some very notable personalities. Plus he does it with humor, some of which is very subtle.

My students probably have as much fun going through Parker's history as with the book itself. But all of that is just the preliminaries: I then have to read it several more times with the students reading and acting out the story. We have a rockin' good time.

My daughter is nearly three years old. She is just now learning her alphabet and the sounds of the letters. As we read Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, she points to each word. I feel it is a great asset in her learning. In addition, I have noticed that she plays with sound more, sings more, and yes... I've even seen her dancing to her own songs. Maybe it is simply an age thing, but I would give some credit to this wonderful book. It demonstrates the power of sound beyond the meaning of words. We find ourselves learning that skill unaware that it is being taught.