Books

Book Details

  • Title: When Angels Sing: The Story of Carlos Santana
  • Author: Michael Mahin
  • Illustrator: Jose Ramirez
  • Age Range: 4 – 12 years
  • Grade Level: 1 – 6
  • Hardcover: 48 pages
  • Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (September 4, 2018)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1534404139
  • Product Dimensions: 12 x 0.2 x 9 inches
  • Hardcover: 48 pages
  • Relevant Subject Areas: American History, American Music History, California, Mexico, Tijuana, San Francisco, Rock n’ Roll, Woodstock, multi-culturalism, creativity, perseverance, music, immigration, racism, bigotry, the 1960s, Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta

Awards!

Society of Illustrators Gold Medal for Original Art for Jose Ramirez; Jr. Library Guild Selection; Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Books; Fuse 8/ School Library Journal Best Picture Books

Summary:

Celebrate music icon Carlos Santana in this vibrant, rhythmic picture book from the author of the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters

Carlos Santana loved to listen to his father play el violín. It was a sound that filled the world with magic and love and feeling and healing—a sound that made angels real. Carlos wanted to make angels real, too. So he started playing music.

Carlos tried el clarinete and el violín, but there were no angels. Then he picked up la guitarra. He took the soul of the Blues, the brains of Jazz, and the energy of Rock and Roll, and added the slow heat of Afro-Cuban drums and the cilantro-scented sway of the music he’d grown up with in Mexico. There were a lot of bands in San Francisco but none of them sounded like this. Had Carlos finally found the music that would make his angels real?

Praise for Stalebread!

  • “Mahin’s jaunty narrative uses occasional rhyme, and onomatopoeic words scroll through in arcing display type. Illustrator Tate’s note mentions finding supporting research for his intentional visual diversity: Among the diverse denizens of Storyville, he depicts a black cop. The text ends abruptly, but Mahin’s note adds lively details. An upbeat introduction to the scrappy origins of a little-known bit of American musical history.” (Kirkus)
  • “Mahin (Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters) explains the band’s roots in a loving, wry voice (the narrator is revealed to be the band’s feline mascot)[…] Buoyant illustrations by Tate (Strong as Sandow) show a lively depiction of street life[…] The book succeeds as a prompt for readers to learn more about these seminal young musicians. The book includes an author’s note and illustrator’s note, as well as instructions on how to make a kazoo. ” (Publishers Weekly)
  • “This story provides an intriguing glimpse into historical possibility.” (Booklist)
  • Units on music and of American history will benefit from this jaunty tale.” (School Library Journal)

Excerpt:

When you were born, your tia abuela called you el cristalino, the crystal one. She thought the light of angels shined through you.
Your father wanted to name you Geronimo, after the brace Apache freedom fighter. He was proud of his mestizo blood.
But your mother, as always, had the final word.
“Carlos.”

Book Details

  • Title: Stalebread Charlie and the Razzy, Dazzy, Spasm Band
  • Author: Michael Mahin
  • Illustrator: Don Tate
  • Age Range: 6 – 12 years
  • Grade Level: 1 – 6
  • Hardcover: 48 pages
  • Publisher: Clarion Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) (July 10, 2018)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9780547942018
  • Product Dimensions:9.9 x 0.9 x 11.2 inches
  • Genre: Nonfiction Picture Book
  • Relevant Subject Areas: American History, American Music History, Jazz History, New Orleans History, Maker culture, creativity, perseverance, music

Summary:

Based on a true story, a vibrant, inspirational picture book about self-reliance and the power of creativity and music, in which a group of hungry homeless kids in 19th century New Orleans build their own musical instruments from discarded items and goin on to become an important part of music history.

It’s 1895, and ten-year-old Stalebread Charlie and his friend Warm Gravy roam the streets of New Orleans, homeless and hungry. Stalebread has heard folks say that music feeds the soul—and he wonders if it could also fill their bellies. Soon he and his friends are playing instruments made out of junk—a fiddle from a cigar box, a kazoo from a comb—until their hats are filled with coins, their bellies are filled with beignets, and their souls are filled with music. This inspiring make-lemonade-from-lemons tale includes author/illustrator notes about the real Stalebread and the research behind the book and a make-your-own-instrument activity.

Praise for Stalebread!

  • “Ramírez’s double-page–spread acrylic-and–enamel-marker images evoke the vibrant electric energy of Huichol yarn art. The years denoting milestones in Carlos’ story subtly blend into the multicolored pages. Mahin’s second-person lyrical narrative unites the disparate elements that ultimately became Santana. A musical journey perfectly aimed at young readers’ excitement to know what they will be.” (Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews)
  • “A tricky choice to figure out which Santana biography to include, but in the end I went with this one. Why? Ramirez’s art, honestly. There’s something about the pairing in this book that just made me inexorably happy.” (Betsy Bird of Fuse 8/ School Library Journal)
  • “As he did in his 2017 biography of Muddy Waters, Mahin celebrates the music of a popular artist while delving into the soul from which it springs.  Mahin’s words match well with Ramirez’s intense, beautifully colored folk art, a mosaic of brown faces, young and old. The pictures demand second, even third looks whether Santana is playing at Aquatic Park or sweeping the floor at Tick Tock Burgers. A biography fitting of the man’s music.” (Starred Review, Booklist)
  • “Vibrant, beautifully colorful folk art illustrations complement the story of Santana’s life. . . .This outstanding biography for early elementary readers is a compelling story of persistence in pursuing goals.” (Highly Recommended, School Library Connection)
  • “Two new picture-book biographies center Santana’s formative years and the experiences that shaped his musical corazón. In When Angels Sing, Mahin’s staccato second-person text (“One day, you went to Aquatic Park. Los congas rumbled into your chest. There was magic in their beat. A breath. A breeze. A feeling”) lends immediacy to his account of Santana’s youth. Ramirez’s full-bleed Mexican-folk-art–influenced acrylic and enamel marker illustrations expertly capture mood and propel the narrative forward, subtly incorporating year stamps on many spreads to mark the passage of time. While both books cover similar events in Santana’s boyhood, Mahin’s buoyant and lyrical storytelling allows the reader closer proximity to the musician’s world.” (The Horn Book)
  • “A beautiful picture book biography on the life of musician, Carlos Santana. Illustrations, rendered in acrylic and enamel markers on canvas, are bright and colorful. They have a folk art style and perfectly complement the text. This will be a perfect book to introduce Santana to readers. Like he did in his biography of Muddy Waters, Mahin has composed a heartfelt tribute to rock legend, Carlos Santana.” (The Nonfiction Detectives)

Excerpt:

You’ve probably heard of Jazz music. Skippity-bippity-be-bop and all that. And you’ve probably heard of country: twang-alang-atwang-alang. But what about spasm band music? Sing-taka-taka-skatta-pat-scat. What do you mean you’ve never heard of that?

Well, considering that one of the most famous spasm bands of all time was formed by a bunch of kids, I suppose I better tell you about it.

Book Details

  • Title: Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters
  • Author: Michael Mahin
  • Illustrator: Evan Turk
  • Age Range: 6 – 12 years
  • Grade Level: 1 – 6
  • Hardcover: 48 pages
  • Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (September 5, 2017)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1481443496
  • Product Dimensions: 11 x 0.3 x 11 inches
  • Genre: Nonfiction Picture Book
  • Relevant Subject Areas: American History, African-American History, American Music History, Rock n’ Roll History, Blues History, Chicago, the Mississippi Delta, the Great Migration, creativity, perseverance, diversity, multiculturalism, music, guitar

Resources for Kids, Educators, and Parents

Awesome Coloring Page 1 | Awesome Coloring Page 2

Awards!

Best Picture Book Biography Children’s Literature Council of Southern California; New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2017; NPR’s Best Books List 2017; New York Public Library’s Top 10 Best Books for Kids 2017; Gold Medal, Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Picture Book Award Winner, California Reading Association; Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature (CSMCL) Best Books List 2017; Gold Medal, Parent’s Choice Awards (www.Parents-Choice.org); Junior Library Guild Selection, Fall 2017; NECBA (New England Children’s Booksellers Association) “Windows and Mirrors” Selection; The Children’s Book Review’s “Best Picture Books of 2017” list; Blue Ribbon, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.

Summary:

Muddy Waters was never good at doing what he was told. When Grandma Della said the blues wouldn’t put food on the table, Muddy didn’t listen. And when record producers told him no one wanted to listen to a country boy playing country blues, Muddy ignored them as well. This tenacious streak carried Muddy from the hardscrabble fields of Mississippi to the smoky juke joints of Chicago and finally to a recording studio where a landmark record was made.

Soon the world fell in love with the tough spirit of Muddy Waters. In blues-infused prose and soulful illustrations, Michael Mahin and award-winning artist Evan Turk tell Muddy’s fascinating and inspiring story of struggle, determination, and hope.

Praise for Muddy!

  • “The words and pictures here mix exuberance with melancholy. Mahin’s words have a beat all their own, capturing the lows and highs with poetic verve. Turk’s watercolor, ink, and collage artwork fills pages, exploding with a neon intensity—the equivalent of a dynamic guitar riff . . . Read the book, then get kids the music.” (Booklist, Starred Review, July 2017)
  • “This poetic celebration of Muddy Waters’ musical truth is lifted still higher by Turk’s extraordinary art.” (Kirkus Reviews 7/1/17)
  • “Lyrically told with a lilting cadence by debut author Mahin. . . . Turk’s mixed-media illustrations leap off the page. . . . The soul of the blues sings out through the pages.” (School Library Journal July 2017)
  • “Like Waters’s music after landing in the Windy City, Turk’s artwork is electric—wild strokes of marker and oil pastel vibrate with energy. And Mahin’s equally vivid writing will almost certainly send readers after Waters’s catalogue.” (Publishers Weekly August 7, 2017)
  • “Mahin’s text is engaging, rhythmic, soulful, and written to reflect the blues that influenced Muddy Waters. . . . Turk’s expressionistic mixed-media illustrations, many of them double-page spreads, aptly convey the emotions associated with Muddy Waters’s music.” (The Horn Book September/October 2017)
  • “Turk’s mixed-media and collage artwork roils with waves of darkness and explosive color, even as it models compositional control, and Muddy is always defined with an electric hue that keeps him in sharp focus. . . . Mahin’s lyricism and rolling cadence make the text a readaloud delight.” (Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Starred Review, September 2017)
  • “The fact of the matter is that every single year I think Turk’s going to get a medal. I thought it with Grandfather Gandhi. I thought it with The Storyteller. Now I’m thinking it with Muddy, but of those three books, Muddy may have the best chance. Turk’s art perfectly brings to life the legendary blues guitarist’s life. I had my resident jazz expert at work vet the piece and he declared it a beauty. Treat yourself by visiting Evan’s blog where he posts the sketches he made of Chicago’s contemporary jazz scene while doing research for this book.” (Betsy Bird, Caldecott Prediction List, Fuse 8/ School Library Journal)

Excerpt:

The clack-a-track, steam-blur of an Illinois Central train rocketed Muddy and his guitar into the bustle and buzz of Chicago’s South Side.

Chicago was plugged in, turned on, and turned up. And so was its music. Records with electrified guitars and jazzy horns were making the blues jump all over town.

Chicago was the city of the ‘Brown Bomber,’ Joe Louis, the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. It was the city of the Chicago Defender, the legendary black newspaper dedicated to fighting racial injustice. And now it was the city of Muddy Waters.

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