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abbynaf's review
2.0
The illustrations are beautiful, but the text was too long and both difficult to read (very bad font choices). It was only after reading the author's note that I realized that the text was poems written from the perspective of instruments. Maybe teens or adults would appreciate this beautiful book more than actual children.
thisgrrlreads's review
3.0
Gorgeous artwork. Also, informative! Still, there is something about Marilyn Nelson's word choice that never works for me.
circleofreadersdruid's review
4.0
Nelson and Pinkney make a masterful pairing. Between her gorgeous poetry and his fabulous illustrations, this book is drop dead gorgeous. The timeline and author and illustrator notes at the back were lovely. I wasn’t expecting the poems to be told from the instruments’ points of view and, while original, I found it a little off-putting.
sunsoar25's review
5.0
This amazing book of poetry is written from the perspective of the musicians (of the first integrated band) instruments as they reminisce about the big band era. The entire experience of this book is incredibly visual and the art really portrays the times and even the sounds in a realistic and impressionistic way. As a recommendation for use with children (although this seems like a must read and do activity for all ages) would be to share video and audio clips of the band in action giving even more depth and meaning to what is already presented. I think one of the only ways this could be better would be if it included a cd or dvd of the Sweethearts' music! :)
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