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Parents' Guide to

Jazz on a Saturday Night

By Patricia Tauzer, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 4+

Kids will groove to this toe-tapping treasure.

Book Leo Dillon , Diane Dillon Arts 2007
Jazz on a Saturday Night Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

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age 10+

Based on 1 parent review

FAMILIES-SCHOOLS
FAMILIES-SCHOOLS Parent
June 5, 2010
age 10+

STAY ON A POSITIVE AND FAITH BASED IMAGE

At this age children begin to identify images but if we use them to foster positive sharing, more likely others will agree because at the age of 3 based on research studies, a child's reaction to things are already remembered by them. The word is mold and create a child by consistency of the right mix. Music if you read the lyrics carefully is the key to communication in a child's world. Teens also go through the same feelings and need that attention. In doing this like treating them like a friend and not a demanding or boastful parent of their own children it is better to allow children FREEDOM of personal space which many of them desire these days. Just monitor them without being so obvious.
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What's the Story?

On one fictional Saturday night, eight great jazz musicians get together for an evening of be-bopping magic. Each one, from Miles Davis to Ella Fitzgerald, in his or her turn, jumps in to the mix, and before long the whole room is feeling the beat.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Inspired by their life-long love of jazz, illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon have put together their dream team of musicians to create "an evening of jazz immortality." In be-bopping language and poster-like illustrations, they capture the excitement and energy that such a session might create. Anyone new to the jazz form, or even the veteran, is sure to catch their enthusiasm.

In a perfectly balanced collage of sound and sight, jazz comes alive in award-winning artwork. Painted in what might be called a graphic style, some scenes focus on the musicians themselves, who with eyes closed, seem to be playing or singing from the soul. Others show an audience whose members are jumping, jiving, and otherwise pulled into the captivating music that flows around them like "a river of melody sketched in dim light." Everyone is having a good time, and the reader will, too. True to form, the Dillons have created another masterpiece to join the other award-winning books in their oeuvre.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about jazz as an art form, the various instruments played, and the eight jazz pioneers, all of whom play together on one magical night in this book. Once they have read the book a couple of times, readers can listen to the CD that will give sound and further explanation to what they have read. They might talk about the instruments they like best, which one they might like to play, or at least learn more about.

Book Details

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