Chatting About Books:
Recommendations for Young Readers

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Episode 16—Books With a Playlist

Book Chat

• Grandma’s Records written and illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Walker & Company, 2001)
  “Sometimes a song can say everything that is in your heart as if it was written just for you.” In this story Velasquez tells his own childhood story: of summers in El Barrio with his grandma. The thing that stands out in Velasquez’s story is his grandma’s love of music and of one song in particular that made her stop and put her hand over her heart. When Velasquez and his grandma get to actually see one of her favorite bands perform, Velasquez understands his grandma’s special song even more.
  
  
• The Sound that Jazz Makes written by Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Walker & Company, 2000)
  In a simple patterned rhyme Weatherford tells the story of jazz from its birth in Africa to its growth and evidence in modern day music. See how the joy, sorrow, oppression, freedom, and praise worked together to become the sound that jazz makes. Velasquez’s illustrations bring Weatherford’s writing to life and match her simple yet powerful words perfectly.
  
  
• The Piano Man written by Debbi Chocolate; illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Walker & Company, 1998)
  Similar in theme to Velasquez’s narrative in Grandma’s Records, Debbi Chocolate shares the story of her grandfather who played piano. Her grandfather, who learned from masters of ragtime such as Jelly Roll Morton and Scott Joplin, played on Broadway, in vaudeville shows, and for silent movies. When movies with sound came out, her grandfather found that he was no longer needed at the theater. But a special gift from his daughter on his 57th birthday helps him relive his silent movie glory days.
  
  
• David Gets His Drum written by David “Panama” Francis and Bob Reiser; illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Marshall Cavendish, 2002)
  This is the story of legendary jazz musician David “Panama” Francis. From the time that David Francis was a boy he knew what he wanted to do—be a drummer just like famous “Brulla” Roberts. The problem was that he didn’t have a drum and no matter what he tried (knives, spoons, or his mother’s kitchen chair), he couldn’t get the right sound. One special day Brulla visits David and passes on his “magic drum” to David. Brulla also leaves David with the advice that "drummer man's magic doesn't come from the drum. The magic comes from the drummer man."

Cookies and Milk
Emily provides the cookies and milk. Kosi and Kenyan provide the jazz. All three work together on the ReadWriteThink activity Send Postcards From the Concert.

About the Host

Emily Manning started teaching first grade in 1999 and is now a reading intervention teacher for third- through fifth-graders. Emily’s passion is reading; she enjoys the challenge each year of finding books that will spark the love of reading in her students. Emily’s favorite books are the ones kids ask to read over and over — the ones that are worn out from so many readings, complete with wrinkled pages and loose bindings.

These include

• Bubba the Cowboy Prince by Helen Ketteman (Scholastic, 1997)
• Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (Yearling, 2001)
• The Jazz Fly by Matthew Gollub (Tortuga, 2000)
• The Magical, Marvelous, Mystical Coat by Catherine Ann Cullen (Little, Brown, 2001)
• The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (Puffin, 2004)