Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Roots and Blues: A Celebration, by Arnold Adoff, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Abstract: Lyrical text explores how Blues have been part of everyday life throughout history, from its origins in the sounds of the earth, through slaves' voices singing of freedom, to today's greatest performers--and listeners.



Publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Clarion Books, 86 p.

2 comments:

Teresa said...

I'd like to hear what others thought of this work. The poetry style didn't work so well for me. It's also possible that I don't have the necessary background knowledge of blues.

Unknown said...

I thought that the visual elements of the poetry ("Cracks: some sharp break sound some pop ping w o o d s t a c c a t o into the air.") did much to mirror the rhythm patterns of the blues. My favorite poems were "Sometimes" (p. 40) -- fairly universal thoughts about parenthood that I probably identify with more than a child will; and "Take A Single Black Pencil" (p. 82) -- part of a trio of poems that ends with "Now mix these colors for our songs."

I also liked the unusual treatment of the oft-told path of the African Americans who lived the lives that produced the blues.