Though the primary focus of this blog is web resources for children, I believe it’s also important to share some great offline resources that are beneficial for kids who are used to hacking away at computers and interfacing with machines. This means books, games, television and even activities. For each non-web related review I give, I’ll always make sure to give an explanation as to why I think it will be helpful for kids who are growing up in the digital age.
Jazz ABZ is a classic book of poetry for children of all races and ages. It was written by Wynton Marasalis. His idea was that for each letter in the alphabet, he would take a legendary jazz musician and writes a poem about them. The poems he writes tell about the life and character of the musician, their music using their key letter lots. Also, there Marsalis chooses a different kind of poem for each musician, according to what poem’s structure will best mirror that musician’s style of jazz. The illustrations (by Paul Rogers) also helps to give students and children a feel for the way jazz is heard, (the musicality of words) and it helps introduce children to a new kind of music through a medium they’re already familiar with — a picture book.
It’s a multilayered concept, so probably the best way to explain it is to give an example. Here is a lyrical poem that Wynton Marsalis wrote for Billie Holiday (whose nickname was Lady Day) using the Letter L:
Lazy, listless, languishing longly
laying low and all alone.
Losing at love and living. I’m
lost in life….Lost and left alone.
Last-ditch lyrics idle on a low frequency, liminal song.
It’s a Lady.
Lady Bountiful leading the lilting lullaby,
Lady of the Lake with letter-perfect delivery,
Ladies Luna and Sol, luminous as the day is long,
It’s Lady Day.
She lavishes loving-kindness on a lonely lament.
Languid becomes luscious; lackluster, luxuriant.
Limp becomes lively; a little — a lot. And
laughter lifts longing
all because a relentless lady loosed liquid life
on lines of mulish melody and lugubrious language
to deliver me from lasting lovelessness.
Should I laud my lady with gold leaf clusters?
With a lavaliere of lapis lazuli
or lotus and lilac poems?
Well, let me applaud Lady Day in song:
Always will I love you and love to always love you.
I think Jazz ABZ is a classic book, one that will enrich the library of any adult or child, and one that has definitely helped my digital kids to get in touch with a different kind of music to what they’re used to. I’d definitely recommend that you pick up a copy.
[Images: mocada.org; Text quoted from Jazz ABZ by Wynton Marsalis]
[FTC: This review is based on my personal experience and I have not been paid by any publishing company to endorse it]