A great review from Booklist for my forthcoming nonfiction picture book Stalebread Charlie and the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band illustrated by the radical Don Tate! Releases July 10, 2018!
Here’s a short excerpt: Lively cartoon illustrations convey the movement of music, with colorful swirls suggesting sound waves, and phrases such as “skippity-bippity-skip” and “zip-zee-zoo” representing the noises made by the instruments. Based on actual events, the book ends with an author’s note, which offers further context for so-called spasm bands, which were part of the musical evolution leading to jazz, fusing influences from blues, folk, gospel, ragtime, brass-band, and dance-hall music.
If you have a subscription to Booklist, you can read the rest here!
