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Title: Blues Journey (Bccb Blue Ribbon Non-Fiction Books) by Walter Dean Myers, Christopher Myers ISBN: 0-8234-1613-5 Publisher: Holiday House Pub. Date: March, 2003 Format: School & Library Binding Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A masterpiece redefines what picturebooks can do
Comment: Father-son, writer-illustrator team Walter Dean Myers and Christopher Myers have produced a masterpiece. W. D. Myers's text is made up of poetic blues lyrics, the "call and response" depicting the African-American experience. The poetry is beautiful, unsettling and evocative; it is perfectly complemented by C. Myers's art. The artwork is done entirely in white paint, warm brown paper bags, and blue ink -- every blue tone from navy-black blue to ice-white blue. It is not at all obvious at first glance that his palette was so limited; C. Myers is astonishingly creative, using a wide variety of artistic techniques and tools, and his spreads are richly textured and diverse. The images are moody, haunting, and tense. Sorrow and pain are the dominant emotions, though hope, joy, tenderness and celebration make appearances as well.
As the title indicates, the book is a journey, and the verses and images progress forward through the timeline of the blues, from the end of slavery through the beginning of the civil rights movement. The pictures also show the gradual movement from country to city, the black migration from South to North. The blues timeline is printed at the end of the book, along with a glossary of symbolic terms used in blues lyrics. This back matter, in addition to the opening author's note giving an explanation of the history and meaning of the blues, provide a necessary key to understanding the layers of meaning in the verses and accompanying illustrations.
Several of the spreads are visually breathtaking, evoking deep feelings of grief and sympathy. A man stands facing away from the viewer, knee-deep in a gorgeously painted blue ocean, holding onto a fishing net. The verse speaks of "casting my love out to the sea;" the illustration speaks powerfully of loneliness. Another spread depicts two young boys sitting on the curb, one with his face buried, turning away from the other child, who is holding his hand in comfort. The very adult look of concern and hopelessness on the boy's face is striking. Coupled with the verse, which says "despair will scrape the bone/ misery loves company, blues can live alone," the illustration speaks of abuse and misery visited upon children helpless to protect themselves; a similar illustration shows two children sleeping on the same mat, head to toe, by a verse that describes their poverty. One of the strongest images in the book is a furious boy at the back of a crowd holding up a sign that says YESTERDAY A MAN WAS LYNCHED, which explicates the accompanying verse ("Strange fruit hanging high in a big oak tree") and summons an image that, while shocking, is an important part of blues history.
"Blues Journey" is neither upbeat, nor easily accessible; it a sophisticated, layered work that expands with every re-reading. Perhaps it is not the sort of book a parent will take home to read to a toddler, but it has a great deal to offer older children; in particular, the book would be an invaluable classroom tool for the study of African-American history and blues music. The Myers have expanded the boundaries of what a picturebook can do. The combined effect of the text and art is to create a visual metaphor for the music of the blues, and a powerful evocation of the black experience.
Rating: 5
Summary: A BEAUTIFUL AND HAUNTING BOOK
Comment: If you want to know what the book is about and the feel of it,
take a look at the cover. It says it all - the scariness, the
unutterable sadness, the awfulness of the slavery & then the segregation in the South from which the Blues developed.
Rating: 5
Summary: Travel with Walter Dean Myers
Comment: Blues Journey briefly explores the blues. Walter Dean Myers prefaces his lyrics with a note about this musical genre. We then travel with the speaker through the sadness that he has experienced over his lifetime. W.D. Myers adds a timeline of blues landmarks and a glossary of blues terms to the end of the book. Walter Dean Myers' son, Christopher, beautifully illustrates this book. This is an excellent title for an introduction to a study of the blues with students fifth grade and up!
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Title: Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes ISBN: 0060535431 Publisher: Greenwillow Pub. Date: 12 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.99 |
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Title: The Man Who Walked Between The Towers by Mordicai Gerstein ISBN: 0761317910 Publisher: Millbrook Press Pub. Date: 18 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: An American Plague : The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy ISBN: 0395776082 Publisher: Clarion Books Pub. Date: 23 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread (Newbery Medal Book) by Kate Dicamillo, Timothy B. Ering ISBN: 0763617229 Publisher: Candlewick Press Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.99 |
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Title: Locomotion (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book) by Jacqueline Woodson ISBN: 0399231153 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Juv Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.99 |
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