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 OttCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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