Sweet Music in Harlem

By Debbie Taylor, Frank Morrison
Paperback: $11.95

Searching his Harlem neighborhood for his uncle’s missing hat, an energetic African American boy unintentionally creates an exuberant gathering of the neighborhood’s jazz musicians for a magazine photograph; a fictional story inspired by Art Kane’s historic photograph of jazz greats, Harlem 1958.

Description

C. J. needs to act fast. A photographer from Highnote magazine is on his way to photograph Uncle Click, a well-known jazz musician, but Uncle Click’s signature hat is missing. Now it’s up to C. J. to hunt down the hat in time for the photo shoot. Little does C. J. know that his whirlwind search through Harlem sets in motion the making of a magical moment of friendship and music.

Illustrated with exuberance by fine artist Frank Morrison, Sweet Music in Harlem is an action-packed romp inspired by an historic photograph from Harlem’s jazz heyday. Readers everywhere will rejoice in the power of music to bring people together in wonderful, fun-filled ways.

About the Creators

Debbie Taylor

Debbie Taylor is a first-time picture book author with a master's degree in creative writing. She works at the University of Michigan and has had several stories published in children's literary magazines including Spider, Cricket, and New Moon. Taylor and her family live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. To find out more about Debbie Taylor, visit her website: www.sweetmusicinharlem.com.

Frank Morrison

Frank Morrison has illustrated numerous award-winning books, including the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor winner Little Melba and Her Big Trombone, published by Lee & Low Books. Before becoming an illustrator, Morrison was a graffiti artist and b-boy. Morrison lives with his family in Georgia. You can learn more about him at morrisongraphics.com.

Awards

  • Best Children's Books of the Year

    Bank Street College of Education

Reviews

  • "Taylor's prose moves us smoothly through the streets of Harlem, buoyed by Morrison's earthy acrylics. Especially valuable are an author's note about the photo itself and a key identifying the jazz greats who posed."

    - Booklist
  • "While they are inspired by the great Art Kane photograph, Harlem 1958, picture-book newcomers Taylor and Morrison do not seek to tell its story; rather they riff on the possibilities, turning the focus from the already-famous to the child who hopes to be someday. The text adopts a jazzy inflection, with dialogue that's hipper than hip, but it's the illustrations that really zing. Bright acrylics abandon realism to emphasize rhythm, elongated forms moving simously against backgrounds that curve, slant, and boogie-woogie--but almost never stay still. Nearly pitch-perfect."

    - Kirkus Reviews
  • "This dazzling tale is filled with energy, rhythm, and style from its attention-grabbing cover to its satisfying ending."

    - School Library Journal

Paperback

  • ISBN 9781620140802
  • Price $11.95
  • Publication Date Jun 01, 2004
  • Trim Size 10.25 × 8.25 in
  • Weight 0.3125 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Word Count 1553
  • Hardcover

  • ISBN 9781584301653
  • Price $17.95
  • Publication Date Jun 01, 2004
  • Trim Size 10.5 × 8.25 in
  • Weight 0.9375 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Word Count 1553
  • Interests

  • Imprint Lee & Low Books
  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JUV / Performing Arts / Music
  • BISAC Category 2 JUV / Social Themes / Friendship
  • BISAC Category 3 JUV / People & Places / United States / African American
  • Themes African / African American / Black, Fiction, Friendship, History & Civics, Music, Neighbors
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 6 - 9
  • Grade Range Grades 1 - 4
  • Guided Reading O
  • ATOS Book Level 4.6
  • DRA 34
  • Interest Level Grades 1 - 4
  • Lexile Code AD
  • Lexile Level 630
  • Reading Level Grades 3 - 4
  • SRC 4.3
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
  • This Book is Included in These Collections:

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