Lookin' for Bird in the Big City [Hardcover]

Robert Burleigh (Author), Marek Los (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2001 | Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

From bridge to street to subway, Miles Davis hears the king of bebop's music so clearly he feels they must be destined to meet. Finally, when it seems he has turned the last corner of the city, he finds him--Charlie Parker, the most fantastic bird ever heard. Robert Burleigh's soulful lyricism and Marek Los's bold brushstrokes combine to create a brilliant portrait of what might have happened one fateful night.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Words and art harmonize in this creatively imagined account of the first meeting between a teenage Miles Davis and celebrated saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker. Los makes a sparkling children's book debut here: his paintings create visual riffs that complement the jazz musicians and setting he salutes. Based on a true story, Burleigh's (Hoops) lyrical narrative follows the young Miles as he wanders through New York City in search of Parker. As he traverses the streets, Davis plays his trumpet: "Notes came to me,/ as jagged as the city skyline,/ and far away as where the sun goes down,/ 'cause I wanted my music to soar as high as his,/ and I had to be ready." Los's paintings capture the mood of the music plus the energy and vibrancy of Manhattan at daybreak, twilight and under overcast skies. He mingles blazing color and dramatic shadowing and inventively juxtaposes natural and neon light. Observant youngsters will realize that several times Davis's path just misses crossing Parker's and will pick up on the intermittent presence of a snow-white bird in the sky (as well as evidence of such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday). Even without the strains of bebop ("Zip-de-ba, dip-dip-dip, de-beoo-de-boo") that float across these pages, readers would appreciate the deep resonance of this fine collaboration. Ages 6-9.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 2-4, younger for reading aloud. Who would have thought that the hip jazz musicians who created bebop in the 1940s would eventually be celebrated in children's picture books? Certainly not Charlie Parker (Charlie Parker Played Bebop), Thelonious Monk (Mysterious Thelonious), nor Miles Davis, the hero of Burleigh and Los' entry in the jazz-for-toddlers sweepstakes. Burleigh tells a fictionalized version of Davis' teenage journey to New York to meet his idol, Parker, with whom he later performed. (Unlike many fictionalized biographies, though, this one establishes in the beginning that the story represents only what "might have happened.") Complemented superbly by first-time illustrator Los' evocative paintings, done in pencil, oil, and watercolor and finished in Photoshop, the text captures the young Davis' openness to the sights and especially the sounds of the city. Los' impressionistic two page-spreads convey the intimidating magnificence of Manhattan as seen from rooftops and bridges, as well as the neon energy of city streets lined with jazz clubs. Like all of the jazz picture books, this one will most appropriately be read to children and used as an entree into the music and its history, but the detail-rich pictures and bouncy text will hold kid's interest nicely. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152020314
• ISBN-13: 978-0152020316
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #165,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, December 18, 2001

By 

benny blanco (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lookin' for Bird in the Big City (Hardcover)

I had to buy two of these, one to cut out the pages to frame.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!!!, June 11, 2001

By 

Angi Kane (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lookin' for Bird in the Big City (Hardcover)

It's so refreshing to see a solid children's book about great artists. The illustration is really hip and colorful. I bought this book as a gift, but then got another copy for myself.

5.0 out of 5 stars jazzy story, August 3, 2011

By 

M. Heiss (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lookin' for Bird in the Big City (Hardcover)

Miles Davis goes to New York City to track down Charlie "Bird" Parker.

The illustrations are full of interesting landscapes, sparkling lights, mysterious shadows, rooftops and subway stations. Be-bop swirls and skats across the pages as Miles searches and searches for the masterful sounds of the Bird.

Read this out loud once to yourself before you read it to your kids -- work through some of the tongue-twisters and the rhythms.

Expresses the excitement and the longing of a young kid who dreams big. Great book to inspire young people to hang in there and keep trying. Not a biography -- this is a creative story about two famous people, two of jazz's (and America's) great musicians.