Skip to main content

This Jazz Man



This Jazz Man (book and CD)
by Karen Ehrhardt, illustrated by R. G. Roth
CD Narrated by James "D Train" Williams
Harcourt, 2006. Unpaged. Picture book.
CD, Live Oak Media, 2010.

This Jazz Man won a 2011 Audie award for best audio-book for children, and it is easy to see why. A counting book written to the tune of "This Old Man," This Jazz Man be-bops and tap dances from one through ten, introducing youngsters to Louis Armstrong, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, and so on. The background music illustrates the styles of each Jazz Man, and a section at the end reiterates those musical styles as the narrator shares a bit about the life and times of each man. This book/CD combination is a perfect introduction to the great American musical form for youngsters, or for any child who loves music. (Book and CD may be found in the hanging bags by the Juvenile music CDs.)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...