Advanced Children's Literature: Informational/Biography

Winter, Jonah. DIZZY. New York: Recorded Books, 2007. Narrator: Kevin R. Free. Print Edition illustrated by Sean Qualls, Scholastic, 2006.

After spending time with both the print and audio edition in a read-along set it is hard to ponder which one this writer would select if forced to make a choice. This book is written to be read aloud and Free does the best children’s narration I’ve heard in many a year. Quall’s illustrations, however, beg to be enjoyed as well. The bound volume is reminiscent of the layout, font style, and rather sparse use of muted colors that Lane Smith employs when he teams up with Jon Scieska in THE STINKY CHEESEMAN. The stylized drawings are integral to the text and “speak” especially of the emotions of Mr. Dizzy Gillespie from birth until his ascent into “Jazz Heaven” in the sky. Emotions that could in no way have been conveyed by reading the text alone. The story of this class clown born into abject poverty in the rural South that overcame child abuse, Jim Crow and successfully bucked the status quo of swing to create an entirely new form of jazz, bebop may encourage students in difficult situations that persistence is a vital component of success. From being picked on because of his small stature as a child, children will find someone who understands what it’s like to be bullied, to be different. One can imagine it would speak to the whole realm of children from slower learners to gifted students. In fact my supposition is that it would speak especially strongly to children on the edges of the classroom more than the mythical “average” children. This volume could certainly plant a seed that will help students realize it’s much more than okay to be different, it is preferable. A very effective ending reminding students that the very things that got Dizzy in trouble when he was younger; breaking all the rules, trying hard to stand out from the crowd, challenging authority, were the very things that made him successful in the end. A distinguished contribution to children’s literature; DIZZY has that all-important characteristic of being thoroughly approachable. The Author’s Note does an outstanding job of fleshing out jazz history as it relates to Gillespie by mentioning Cab Calloway, Charlie Parker, and Thelonius Monk. It also makes a teachable moment of the fact that Dizzy was different in many positive ways relating to his personal life by staying married to the same woman and eschewing drugs all his life.