Mysterious Thelonious with Cassette(s) (Live Oak Music Makers) [Hardcover]

Chris Raschka (Author), Charles Turner (Performer)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2001 | Age Level: 3 and up | Series: Live Oak Music Makers

In his second tribute to a jazz giant, Caldecott Honor Medalist Chris Raschka matches the 12 musical tones of the diatonic scale to the 12 color values of the color wheel, then sets paint strokes for notes and color washes for harmonies, creating an astonishing tribute to musical genius Thelonious Monk. Full color.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Vibe, rhythm, beat! There have been many tributes to the great jazz composer and performer Thelonius Monk, but none so arresting and surround-sound-appealing as this small, unassuming book. If you're looking for verbose or technical explanations of Monk's music, look elsewhere. Here, you'll find nothing but pure, punchy music. Scant words jump and dance over pages that bear greater resemblance to musical staffs than still places for text to sit idly. Chris Raschka, creator of Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, uses beautiful watercolors to splash and adorn the pages' multi-boxed backgrounds in a smooth, harmonic pattern based on the tones of the chromatic scale. A groovy piano makes the occasional appearance, along with the slouchy, jivin', slumpy, jammin' image of Monk doing what he did best. Do not read this book--instead, sing it, swing it, and sway to its infectious music. (Ages 4 and up) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-5?In this brilliantly conceived tribute to the jazz composer and musician, Raschka has captured the music and the man in a picture book as original as Monk himself. Using the provocative "Misterioso" as his inspiration, Raschka set his words to the melody and let them fall on the page just as they would if you were listening to the music. But his "notes" are the 12 values on the color wheel matched to the corresponding 12 tones on the chromatic scale. He begins with a nearly all-white page, the colors running up one side, the page lined with a grid that will gradually be filled in by bands and squares of jewel-like watercolor as well as the lyrical text. The oh-so-hip Monk is also hanging out, sometimes crouched over his piano, sometimes holding a word, sometimes dancing or leaping much as his music does. The genius of Monk was that his notes often defied convention, stretching what was acceptable even to his fellow jazz musicians. "Wrong" notes surprised listeners and created angular melodies like no other composer's. But, as the hand-lettered text states, "He played not one wrong note, not one....He played the music of freedom. Jazz is the music of freedom." The genius of Raschka is that he has been able to translate that music into a book like no other, introducing it to young listeners and confirming its brilliance to adults already familiar with it. Like Monk, he is a master of making extraordinarily complex concepts seem simple No one should be deprived of this gem.?Karen Breen, Library Power, New York City
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover
• Publisher: Live Oak Media; Har/Cas edition (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874996740
• ISBN-13: 978-0874996746
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 7.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,962,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An abstract book about the life of Thelonious Monk., December 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mysterious Thelonious (Hardcover)

The author/illustrator has found a clever way to combine the illustration and text, as if to portray the sound of Thelonious Monk's music. I read this to a third grade music class. The students commented that the words were placed on the page like notes on a music staff. They also noticed that the size of the words changed throughout the book, perhaps suggesting the dynamics in his music. Although the book doesn't share specific factual information about Thelonious Monk, it is fun to read. I would recommend it for all students and music lovers alike. As a music teacher, I really enjoyed this book!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Language, art, music,and color create a new mening of jazz., April 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mysterious Thelonious (Hardcover)

There is nothing Misterioso about Chris Raschka's story about Thelonious Monk, Mysterious Thelonious. Just as there were "no wrong notes on Monk's piano, there are no wrong words in this marvelously creative book by Chris Raschka. Inspiried by the first jazzman to cultivate a goatee and by Monk's composition, 'Misterioso', Raschka has approached this picture-book from a right angle, similar to how Monk titled his head as he 'crushed' out his muisc on the piano. Words, music, and color run up-and-down the pages like Monk's enormous hands, hitting al 12 keys at once. Young readers will enjoy the challenge of trying to decode the phonetic-like presentation of words that reverberate page-by-page across colorful grids reminiscent of a Paul Klee drawing. Seasoned jazz lovers (like me) will marvel at how Raschka has caught the musical magic of Thelonious Sphere Monk as he might have 'sounded with words and a brush' jamming with Charlie (Yardbird) Parker at Minton's Playhouse (New York) in 1937. I have used this book many times to show teachers the power of interactive read-alouds to create higher levels of understanding. With black shades on and Monk's music playing in the background, children delight in a unique demonstration of how language, art, color, and hyphenated text work together to tell a wonderful story about the music of freedom....Jazz. Tr- ue to h- is rep- u- tation, Ra- sch- ka u- ses o- nly a fe- w w- ords, b- ut s- ays a lo- t!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mysterious Thelonius, October 4, 2002

By 

Kath K (SE PA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mysterious Thelonious (Library Binding)

I was skeptical about this when I picked it up from the library. My 6 and 3 year olds absolutely loved it. The way the words were scattered over the page made it impossible not to read it rhythmically! We read it months ago, and still, every time someone says the word "mysterious," they start chanting the words of the book. Raschka has done it again!