Jimi Sounds Like A Rainbow

A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix

* This post is part of Nonfiction Monday
hosted today by Rasco From RIF *

Clarion Books (pub. 10.4.2010)
32 pages

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top 

A uthor: GARY GOLIO

              and Illustrator:  JAVAKA STEPTOE

C haracter: Jimi Hendrix, rock 'n' roll guitar player

O verview from the back cover:
     "Jimi Hendrix was a superstar, a rebel, a hero, an innovator. He was bold as love, and colorful as a rainbow. He was one of the greatest guitar players of all time. 
     But before he was all these things, he was a boy named Jimmy who loved to draw and paint and listen to records. A boy who played air guitar with a broomstick and longed for a real guitar of his own. A boy who asked himself an unusual question: Could someone paint pictures with sound?
     Told in vivid language and stunningly illustrated, this is a story of a talented child ... a determined kid with a vision, who worked hard to become a devoted and masterful artist. Jimi Hendrix - a groundbreaking performer whose music shook the very foundations of rock 'n' roll... and set the world on fire."

T antalizing taste:
     "He had a rainbow of sounds at his fingertips, and he wanted to paint the world with them...
     Like no one before him, Jimmy Hendrix taught his guitar to sing, scream, laugh, and cry.  He learned to use it as an artist uses paint, creating new worlds with the colors of sound.
     To the heart and soul of the blues he added the restless energy of rock 'n' roll...
Dressed in the colors of the rainbow, he played for audiences far and wide, joining fiery sounds with tender feelings and painting the world with his songs."


and something more:  The picture book biography, Jimi Sounds Like A Rainbow recently received the 2011 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book award.  I enjoyed reading how illustrator Javaka Steptoe sought to reflect Jim Hendrix in his vibrant illustrations: "I thought about guitars - their sound, their vibrations, their look and feel - so I used plywood I found at The RE Store [in Seattle]. I thought about how Jimi saw the world and how that differed from other people's views, so I painted Jimi one way and his surroundings another way.  I thought about the depth and texture of his music, so I layered and used bright colors ... rainbow colors."

     As Javaka Steptoe also wrote in the Illustrator's Note, "To really know about a person, you have to do things that they did, and see the things they saw."  And that makes sense, given that he views himself as an observer.  When asked "What inspired you to draw?" (as posted by The Brooklyn Children's Museum), Javaka Steptoe answered with a wonderful anecdote about observing, "...I like observing things.  I like observing people ... and I find normal things interesting.  Maybe something is a particular color. Let me give you an example.  One day I was on a bus and I had a purple jacket on and khaki pants. A woman sat next to me, and she had a khaki jacket and purple pants ... I don't think she noticed. I don't think anyone else on the bus noticed. I just had to tap her on the shoulder, and she just laughed. So that's me."          
     And, that's why his art rings true with Gary Golio's lyrical text.

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A Picture Book of Cesar Chavez

* This post is part of Nonfiction Monday
hosted today by Three Turtles and Their Pet Librarian *


Holiday House (pub. 7.31.2010)
32 pages  Grades 2-4

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top 

A uthor: DAVID A. ADLER and MICHAEL S. ADLER

              and Illustrator:  MARIE OLOFSDOTTER

C haracter: Cesar Chavez, leader of American farmworkers

O verview from the jacket flap:  "For Cesar Chavez, dignity always meant more than money. As a child growing up in California during the Great Depression, Cesar picked produce with his family to make ends meet. The work was backbreaking, the pay was very low, and many families, including his, were homeless. 

     Cesar Chavez later dedicated his life to helping American farmworkers. He argued for better pay and fair working conditions, and was even jailed for his efforts. But he never stopped urging people to stand up for their rights. Young readers will be inspired by the fascinating life story of this champion of social justice."

T antalizing taste:  "Cesar's father was often too busy to spend time with his family. It was Cesar's mom who kept them together. She told her children stories. She taught them values and many proverbs, such as 'What you do to others, others do to you.'"

and something more: In honor of Presidents' Day today, I want to highlight Cesar Chavez' 1964 award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, accepted by his wife. The Picture Book of Cesar Chavez includes President Clinton's tribute to him upon the presentation of the award: "'This remarkable man... with faith and discipline, with soft-spoken humility and amazing inner strength led a very courageous life. And in so doing, he brought dignity to the lives of so many others and provided for us inspiration for the rest of our nation's history.'"  
     The Presidential Medal of Freedom was originally established in 1945 by President Truman to honor civilian service during World War II.  In 1963, President Kennedy expanded the scope of the award to encompass "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." (Executive Order 11085)
      I like that this award includes "cultural endeavors".  As the artist and architect, Maya Lin (a Presidential Design Award recipient), has expressed, "[A]rt, at times, can look at a subject differently, and in doing so can get people to pay closer attention."
     In 1964, the year Cesar Chavez was honored, the recipients in the creative world included the soprano Leontyne Price, the artist Willem de Kooning, the composer Aaron Copland, and the authors T.S. Eliot, Carl Sandburg and John Steinbeck.
     Last week, President Obama honored the fifteen recipients of the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom. The group included three of my favorites in the creative world: the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the artist Jasper Johns, and the author and poet Maya Angelou.
     As a thought for today, Presidents' Day, here are the powerful concluding words of Maya Angelou's poem, "On the Pulse of Morning", which she recited at President Clinton's 1993 inauguration:

"Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister's eyes, and into
Your brother's face, your country
And say simply
Very simply 
With hope
Good morning."

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Tillie The Terrible Swede - How One Woman, A Sewing Needle, and A Bicycle Changed History

Knopf Books for Young Readers (pub. 1.25.2011)
Random House 

40 pages   Grades 1-5

* This post is part of the children's
Nonfiction Monday hosted
today by Wrapped in Foil *  


A True Tale with A Cherry On Top 

A uthor:  SUE STAUFFACHER

        and Illustrator: SARAH McMENEMY

C haracter: Tillie Anderson,
            an immigrant from Sweden
            and the women's bicycle-racing
            champion of the world in the 1890s

O verview from the picture book jacket flap:
     "In the old days, most girls came to America with a dream. All Tillie Anderson had was a needle ... So she got herself a job in a tailor shop and waited for a dream to come and find her.
     And then one day, a man sped by the shop on a bicycle  That was it ... With arduous training and her (shocking!) new clothes, Tillie began entering - and winning - races.  Amidst criticism for her 'unwomanly' riding and support from women's rights activist, she became a whirling sensation - and the women's bicycle racing champion of the world!
     Sue Stauffacher's lively text and Sarah McMenemy's charming illustrations capture the energy of the bicycle craze that swept America in the 1890s and tell the story of a remarkable woman who would not let society's expectations stop her from achieving her dream."
  

T antalizing taste:
    "'Bicycles aren't for ladies,' Tillie's mother reminded her. But Tillie wasn't listening. From that day on, she saved up her money and dreamed of nothing but riding. Not the slow and stately sort of riding. No, Tillie dreamed of the speedy, scorchy, racy kind of riding."

and something more:  After reading this wonderful picture book biography, Tillie the Terrible Swede by Sue Stauffacher, I wondered why Tillie Anderson stopped racing when she was doing so well, winning 18 out of 19 races in 1901.  I learned from the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame that Tillie "remained the champion of the World until retiring in 1902 when women were barred from racing due to the level of danger involved in the sport."  Hmm... steps forward and steps backwards.
   Tillie Anderson was a U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame 2000 Inductee in the Veteran Pre-1945 Competitors Category.  In that same year another woman was honored: Jacquie Phelan in the Mountain Bike Category.  I live in mountain biking territory (Marin County, California) where Jacquie also lives (although I'm more of a hiker than a biker).  Jacquie took her first mountain bike ride in 1980 on a three speed, and became the U.S. Women's National Champion in 1983, 1984 and 1985.  She organized the Women's Mountain Bike and Tea Society (WOMBATS), an organization that encourages women's and girls' participation in the sport.  She organized the sport's earliest skills camps called Fat Tire Finishing School.  In 2004 she placed 8th overall in the Transportugal, a 1300 km offroad adventure race, where she was the only woman participant.  I think Tillie Anderson would have been thrilled to be honored along with Jacquie Phelan.
     And because this is a Valentine's Day post, it's sweet to acknowledge both of their marriages to spouses who support(ed) their cycling passion: Jacqui to the inventor, Charlie Cunningham, a pioneering bicycle framebuilder, and Tillie to her manager.
    Also, just yesterday, Jacquie participated in a fundraiser here in Marin for Trips for Kids, a national organization that takes inner-city children on guided mountain bike adventures.  Terrific! And in May 2011, the author Sue Stauffacher and her husband, cyclist Bob Johnson, and various groups of schoolchildren along the way, will ride from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Chicago, Illinois, on The Tillie Ride to deliver donated copies of Tillie the Terrible Swede to the Chicago Public Library.  Terrific!
    Inspired by these wonderful women, I think I might just get my bike out of the garage, put some air in the tires, and go for a ride!

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The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy)

Scholastic Press (pub. 1.1.2010)
48 pages

* This post is part of the children's Nonfiction Monday
hosted today by Wild About Nature *  

A uthor:  BARBARA KERLEY

               and Illustrator:  EDWIN FOTHERINGHAM

C haracters: Mark Twain, an American author
                      Susy Twain, his 13 year old daughter

O verview from the jacket flap:

    “According to Susy, people were just plain wrong about her papa. They thought they knew Mark Twain - after all, he was a world-famous author. Thousands of people had read his books and attended his lectures. Some of them even considered themselves Mark Twain experts. But they didn't really know him.
     And so, in secret, thirteen-year-old Susy wrote her own biography of Mark Twain - because she was determined to set the record straight!
     Through seamless prose, sly pictures, and generous excerpts from Susy's actual diary (cleverly designed inside separate mini-book inserts), readers are treated to a frank, adoring, and uproarious portrait of an American icon - the extraordinary Mark Twain (according to Susy)."

T antalizing taste: 

     "As a writer herself, Susy paid close attention to
Papa's work routine ... If he had a sudden
stroke of inspiration,  neither cold nor dark
nor three-in-the-morning kept him from hurrying 
up to his office to scribble it down. 
     Papa called it "sailing right on."


[from Susy's diary]  "The other day we were all sitting when papa told Clara and I that he would give us an arithmetic example ... 'If A byes a horse for $200 and B byes a mule for $140 and they join in copartnership and trade their chreatures for a piece of land $480 how long will it take a ... man to borrow a silk umbrella.'"

and something more:   I was intrigued by the reference to Mark Twain's involvement with copyright laws in the picture book biography of The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy).  Apparently,  his books were often pirated in Canada, and then sold in the U.S. at a lower price.  He often visited Canada to try to protect his works.  In 1886 and 1906, he spoke at U.S. congressional hearings which led to the significant Copyright Act of 1909.  At the last hearing, he even dressed in an all-white suit to bring attention to himself and the issue of international copyright protection. 
      The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum site has wonderful biographical tidbits, such as the following: "Samuel L. Clemens, the future Mark Twain, was born when Halley's Comet was in the skies. He died during the comet's return 74 years later."  It seems only fitting that such a strong personality would come and go with the brilliance of a comet.
     And his literary name of Mark Twain was tied to his riverboating experience:  "On the river, the depth of the water was vitally important. A mark was the same as a fathom on the sea or six feet. Twain means two. If the man checking the depth called out "Mark Twain", it meant a depth of twelve feet, safe for riverboats of the day."  Essentially his name meant all is safe; if only that could have applied to Susy who died of meningitis as a young woman.  Who knows what else Mark Twain's daughter might have written?  But we're so lucky that Barbara Kerley so beautifully wove Susy's wonderful biography-journal (displayed in the inviting small booklet inserts) into the text of this picture book.
  

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