The Cat Who Invented Bebop — Marshall Arisman

Gr 4-6 Cool cat Stringbean McCoy, taught by Pops, his cool mentor, explains the meaning and performance of jazz. Striking graphic visuals (cat faces on human figures, square-shaped square cats) fill angular painted scenes of deep-toned color, while detailed images (Pops's guitar with signatures of jazz greats and brief views of mid-20th-century New York) trace Stringbean's steps to make his mark as a saxophonist in jazz's heyday. Highlighted and enlarged fonts call readers' attention to the language of the culture (bread, blues, Hammerfingers), with a nod to the improvisational creativity that inspired bebop and a most unusual explanation for the origin of the word. The language and story are appropriate to the period; however, the bulk of the narrative is presented in long blocks of small print, making this a work mainly for musically aware older elementary readers.-Mary Elam, Forman Elementary School, Plano, TX