Dark Was the Night

Blind Willie Johnson's Journey to the Stars

Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin Random House)

(pub. 8.25.2020) 

32 pages 

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Gary Golio
       and illustrator:  E.B. Lewis

 
C haracter:  Willie Johnson

O verview:

       

    "Willie Johnson loved to sing and play guitar. He went blind when he was young, but that didn't stop him from traveling all over Texas to perform on street corners and in small  churches. The unique way he  played slide guitar - with a penknife - gave  the instrument a voice of its own, and paired with his own raspy singing, he created an unforgettable sound...

     This powerful story introduces young readers to an influential musician who helped people find light and hope in their lives. Along with pieces by Bach, Beethoven, and the sound of a human heart, Willie Johnson's evocative 'Dark Was the Night' was chosen to represent humanity on the historic Golden Record, carried into space by the Voyager I."

T antalizing taste: 

     "In a dark quiet room, your voice poured into a microphone, slid down some wires, and scratched itself onto a wax disc. The record caught you breathing, singing, and moving your knife along those steel strings.

     It was the sound of one human being reaching out to all the others, telling them not to be afraid of the dark.

     After all, if a blind man could see the light ..."

And something more:  The back matter of Dark Was the Night discusses the background of The Golden Record time capsule sent out into space in 1977: "On August 25, 2012, Voyager I  - traveling through space at 38,000 miles per hour - became the first human-made object to leave our  solar system and journey so far from Earth.  On it is the song of a blind man, someone who knew both light and darkness, bearing a message of hope to the stars themselves."

Smile

How Charlie Chaplin
Taught the World
to Laugh (and Cry) 

Candlewick Press
(pub. 3.26.2019) 
48 pages

A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Gary Golio
 and illustrator: Ed Young 
 
C haracter: Charlie Chaplin

O verview from the jacket flap: 
     "Once there was a boy named Charlie who roamed the streets of London, hungry for life (and maybe a bit of bread). He lived in one small room with his actress mum and his older brother, Sydney. They didn't have much to smile about, but Charlie was born to perform - whether dancing for pennies in front of the pub, reciting  a funny poem for his class, or acting in theater troupes around town. 
       When Charlie told his mum about a wobbly old man in baggy clothes with turned-out feet and a crooked cane, his mother found it sad, but young Charlie came to see that sometimes, Funny and Sad went hand in hand."
    

T antalizing taste:  

"Now, while Mum was sick
And Sydney in the Navy
Charlie took what jobs he could find.
As errand boy for a doctor.
Teaching dance to children.
Even making toy boats that he could sell for a penny.

Still, some days
He'd shed a tear or two
Just waiting for the sun to come
Brightly shining through.

      But then....

The chance of a lifetime -
A plum part in a play!"

And something more: The Afterword of SMILE explains that without "Charlie Chaplin, there probably wouldn't be movies the way we know them today. He found a way to make us laugh and cry in the same film, to make us care about the characters and their adventures. Actor, writer, director, composer, songwriter, editor, producer, and distributor - he was the first to do it all, and he did it masterfully... In Charlie's Little Tramp character, what seemed like weakness often turned out to be strength. What was a problem became a solution."

When Bob Met Woody

The Story of the Young Bob Dylan

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday hosted today by Capstone Connect
and joins It's Monday! What are you reading? at Teacher Mentor Texts

LIttle Brown & Company

(pub. 5.3.2011) 40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Gary Golio

     and Illustrator:  Marc Burckhardt

C haracter: Bob Dylan

O verview from the jacket flap: 

      "Bob Dylan is a musical icon, an American legend, and, quite simply, a poet. But before he became Bob Dylan, he was Bobby Zimmerman, a kid from rural Minnesota.

      This lyrical and gorgeously illustrated picture book biography follows Bob as he leaves his North Country mining town, takes on a new identity, and finally strikes out for New York City to pursue his love of music. He then meets his folk music hero, Woody Guthrie, and his life is changed forever."

        

T antalizing taste: 

   "May 1941. 

     Bob floated into this world on waves of sound.

     In the city of Duluth,

     on the shore of Lake Superior,

     in the cold North Country of Minnesota.

     To the music of ships' bells, seagulls' cries,

     and the rhythm of tumbling freight cars, young

     Bob Zimmerman began his life story."

          

and something more: I'm working on a picture book biography idea that connects two people so I've been studying these types of books.

I'm always drawn to the story behind a story, and I was interested to learn the background of this book. Gary Golio, the author of this picture book biography, When Bob Met Woody, writes in the Author's Note: "As a boy, I was always looking for heroes, just as Bob was looking for Woody even before he'd ever heard of him... it was Bob's search for his guiding star that inspired me to write this book."

Gary Golio explains that he did lots of research using books, videos, CDS, "[b]ut only when I read about Bob writing his 'Song to Woody' - using one of Woody's own melodies, a practice common in folk music - did I know where my story was going and why Woody was so important to Bob.  That's when all the pieces fell into place, even though there was still plenty of 'writing work' left to do."

And I liked this Bob Dylan quote: "All I can do is be me, whoever that is."

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.