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freckleduck's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the premise and the visuals and appreciated the style. I didn’t love the ending but I think it is probably more realistic than most children’s books in that way.
sducharme's review against another edition
4.0
Ben sits out on the fire escape at his apartment listening to jazz coming from a nearby club. He watches the men practice after school and imagines himself as part of the band, with a trumpet belting out notes and part of the scene. Black and white illustrations capture the energy of 1920's Harlem with realistic portraits of the musicians contrasted with abstract patterns representing their music. Pair this with the novel BUD NOT BUDDY.
beths0103's review against another edition
5.0
I love everything about this book: the black and white illustrations, the cool jazz musicians at the Zig Zag Club, and Ben: who loves music so much that he plays pretends to play music with an imaginary trumpet, until he runs into some kids at school who make fun of him and now he doesn't want to play anymore. Will Ben find a way to resurrect his love of music?
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty awesome art but only okay story. I would have liked to see the boy doing more with the real trumpet. And interacting more with the other kids. And the musicians.
beecheralyson's review against another edition
4.0
Caldecott Honor 1980 - Both text and illustrations really work together in this book.
heisereads's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! What a fabulous book. The text & unique illustration style works so well together. This is why we don't just get rid of older books, but we do look at them with a critical eye. This Caldecott Honor winning book may be 40+ years old, but it has not lost any of it's beauty with a contemporary read. Would definitely re-purchase for an elementary library. Celebratory of jazz & childhood dreams, this would pair well with Trombone Shorty (Caldecott Medal 2016) & The Double Bass Blues (Caldecott Honor 2020).
5elementknitr's review against another edition
5.0
I'm pretty sure this is the first book I've read from author Rachel Isadora. I had to get this book through interlibrary loan, and it's really old. It even has the old-style stamp paper on the inside cover. This book was first checked out in 1994, and the last check-out stamp is 2004 (the library probably went to digital checkout after that).
I love the artwork in this book! It's an extraordinary amount of pointilism, hatch, cross-hatch, and even an entire page of what is now called zentangle.
And the story is wonderful!
I already have several other books from Ms. Isadora. Reading those next!
I love the artwork in this book! It's an extraordinary amount of pointilism, hatch, cross-hatch, and even an entire page of what is now called zentangle.
And the story is wonderful!
I already have several other books from Ms. Isadora. Reading those next!
calistareads's review against another edition
5.0
The artwork in this diverse beginning story is amazing. It captures the mood of a hot city night and the jazz club groovin’ out hits. Each page is its own tone. It conveys the mood of Ben, our character. It is also Escher-like at points. I love it.
Ben lives close to the zig zag jazz club and he loves the music. He has his imaginary trumpet and he is always playing that for his family. He plays sitting everywhere and he is always hanging around the jazz club listening. He loves the trumpet most. The trumpet player sees him and takes a liking to him. I found this to be a fantastic story.
The niece enjoyed the artwork here. She thought the story was good. She gave this 4 stars. The nephew laughed at the naked baby in the story, of course. He thought this story was interesting. He gave this 3 stars.
Ben lives close to the zig zag jazz club and he loves the music. He has his imaginary trumpet and he is always playing that for his family. He plays sitting everywhere and he is always hanging around the jazz club listening. He loves the trumpet most. The trumpet player sees him and takes a liking to him. I found this to be a fantastic story.
The niece enjoyed the artwork here. She thought the story was good. She gave this 4 stars. The nephew laughed at the naked baby in the story, of course. He thought this story was interesting. He gave this 3 stars.
octavia_cade's review against another edition
3.0
Likeable little picture book about a kid who loves music. The story's fairly simple, but what really sets this book apart and makes it a little different from the average is the art. The illustrations are really sophisticated, a black and white art deco set of drawings, appropriate to the jazz age in which the story is set. Really, it's no surprise that the story's so simple and there are very few words, because I imagine everyone who picks this up is looking more at the pictures than the text.