  | Stalebread Charlie and The Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band Author: Mahin, Michael James | |
| Price: $6.50 | ||
Summary:
The fictionalized story about a group of starving, homeless kids in 1890s New Orleans who made their own instruments and started a band that historians now consider an important step in the development of jazz.
| Illustrator: | Tate, Don |
| Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: K-2 Reading Level: 2.40 Points: 1.0 Quiz: 72202 | ||
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (05/01/18)
Booklist (04/15/18)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 04/15/2018 Stalebread Charlie and his buddy Warm Gravy, homeless white kids living in 1890s New Orleans, are desperate for food or money. Inspired by adult street musicians, Stalebread decides to start a band. He finds an old stovepipe and starts singing into it. He puts some rocks in a can for Gravy to shake. Other boys join them, playing a “comb-made kazoo,” pennywhistle, cigar-box fiddle, washboard, and spoons. 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. Little is known about the real Stalebread Charlie, but this story provides an intriguing glimpse into historical possibility. Instructions are included for making a homemade kazoo, as well as a link to more music crafts. - Copyright 2018 Booklist.
