This month, I am featuring the children's books of poet Tony Medina, who teaches at Washington, DC's Howard University.
Before the presidential election, Tony's newest book for kids will be released: The President Looks Like Me. He'll be stopping by (Tony Medina, not the President) for an interview on November 2. Last week, we looked at Tony's verse biography of poet Langston Hughes, Love to Langston. This week, let's look inside another Medina picture book biography, I and I Bob Marley. It's a must have for reggae fans -- those of us who sang "Three Little Birds," and other Marley favorites to our kids in lieu of lullabyes. But I also love I and I Bob Marley because it's a great biography. I learned much about Jamaica, Marley's life, and reggae music that I hadn't known before.
The cover, by Jesse Joshua Watson
The illustrations by Jesse Joshua Watson are beautifully rich, pairing realistic faces with saturated jewel tones in the landscapes and backgrounds. Here is the Lee & Low book trailer for I and I Bob Marley.
Lee & Low also has a book talk with Tony Medina and artist Jesse Joshua Watson that's worth reading.
By the way, the deadline (10/31) is coming up for Lee & Low's New Visions Award for a middle grade or young adult fantasy, science fiction, or mystery novel by a writer of color.
Medina talking about his verse biography of Bob Marley.
My favorite poem in I and I Bob Marley is "Hope Road." Here is an excerpt. Hope Road by Tony Medina Music comes to me like birds knocking on my window filling me with songs in a nest of love singing at my window I greet it with words that in my mind roam free and in my heart find home like a windswept leaf scratching along my window Music is a big old rusty sardine can I turn into a guitar a dream I grab onto like a star shining outside my window To read the rest, you'll have to buy (or borrow) the book! Next week, I'll take a brief break from Tony Medina's children's books to preview another biography for children, Catherine Reef's The Bronte Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily and Anne -- also due out this month. Then, we'll finish out October with Medina's DeShawn Days. Enjoy your Poetry Friday. I'll see you off to our host, Betsy at Teaching Children Poetry with those Three Little Birds.
We've been spending a few days with Muriel Weinstein who -- in her 80s -- has a new career as a children's author.
Muriel's first two books are When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat, a jazzy picture book, and the newly released chapter book bio, Play, Louis, Play. Muriel is currently working on her third book for children.
Muriel, how did your picture book -- a little girl's bubble-gum romp with a scatting Louis Armstrong -- lead to Play, Louis, Play?
When I wrote the picture book about bubble gum and Louis came to the little girl in a dream, my editor said they'd like a one page article on Louis' life. No problem. So I set about reading more about Louis.
As I started to read, I wanted to read more and more. He interested me so much that by the time I finished I FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM. There were a million books on the market about Louis Armstrong, but I didn't care. I read them and felt I had something else to say for young kids that kids needed to hear. "Lookit this kid!"
Armstrong had to work at many things, think them up because no one hired a seven year old kid. (Play, Louis, Play shows the young Armstrong helping to support his mother and sister).What impressed me most about Louis as a boy and man was his honesty and his generosity. He was a loving, lovable guy.
I love this section of the biography:
"Mayann's [Armstrong's mother] neighborhood was as rough at the Battlefield. But Little Louis never noticed that. Music was all he heard: horns wah-wah-wahing, slow 'n' sad drag-me-out blues, riffs on razzmatazz cornets, and jazzy beats of thumping piano keys. Their sounds, like waves in an ocean, rolled into him, flooded his ears, and flowed through his body."
What kind of research did you do for the chapter book?
There is a Louis Armstong archive at Queen College in Queens, NY. They give you a large pad and a pen or pencil, and you enter a room with a large table in which you alone are present and you have access to any book or article or photo or music concerning Louis or that Louis ever wrote.
I LOVED reading Louis' autobiographies. It was is if you were hearing him speak. No corrections were made. All his scribbling was left and I had the feeling of reading over his shoulder -- as if he were alive and watching me read, as if he heard my laughter, my incredulous sighs, and was loving it.
Armstrong wrote two autobiographies: MY LIFE IN NEW ORLEANS and LOUIS ARMSTRONG IN HIS OWN WORDS. They were of inestimable value. They made me FEEL what he felt.
What's your advice to would-be authors about finding your voice and about longevity.
My advice? I don't give a damn what are you are, whether extremely young or old. If you feel like writing then, by golly, DO IT!!! Dont' think of anything but doing it. Don't think of future gains. Don't think of publishing. Don't think of money. If you want to write, then write. The rest will come into play.
Muriel -- thanks for the visit. It's been a joy to get to know you. I wish you luck in your continued success, lady!
Yesterday, children's author Muriel Weinstein told us how, in her 80s, she became a children's author.
Her picture book, When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat, came out in 2008. This month, her second book was released. Play, Louis, Play is a chapter book biography of Armstrong, told from the point of view of his first horn.
Muriel, describe the role of poetry in your work. You have published poetry for adults in literary journals. (Read one of Muriel's poems in the Cortland Review.)
Poetry is my life's blood. Poetry continues to grow in my soul. It came in a time of stress when I was getting a divorce, a million years ago ... in the Ice Age ... and I am still with it. That's w hat my marriage felt like; frozen tundra, isolated Arctic, ice floes -- so I turned to poetry. Private poems, but they saved my life.
I discovered how healthy and how important it was to write our feelings out. Then little by little, one raindrop at a time, I showed my work and was encouraged to continue. When I sent it out, VOILA! It was published.
Which poetic skills serve you well as a children's author? How did you incorporate poetry into your non-fiction biography of Louis Armstrong's early life?
Many skills in poetry serve me as a children's author. First, the wonderful metaphors, similes, the abilities to see unlike things and find a common thread. The ability to write clearly, to crystallize a point, to paint pictures, to show feelings, all of these come to play in both poetry and children's fiction.
PLAY, LOUIS, PLAY is full of poetry. In fact, poetry drives it. There are many regional types of dialogue that Louis might have with his grandma or with himself. He often talked to himself, and he was a colorful speaker. So poetry was in his soul, which poured out in music, but it was also on his tongue and I had to find that.
How and why did you decide to describe Armstrong's early life from the point of view of his first cornet? (Here is a photo of that cornet. It has been at the Smithsonian and other museums.)
The horn really held his heart. I had a phrase, but my editor felt it was too hard for kids to understand. Under the title, PLAY, LOUIS, PLAY, I had written "The Story of Satchmo Whose Heart Was in His Horn." And that explains everything.
I'll wrap up my interview with our inspiring octogenarian tomorrow.
A few weeks ago, I reviewed a jazz picture book for Poetry Friday. When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat is a playful, rhyme-filled book, and a fun introduction to the music of Louis Armstrong for younger kids. The review is here.
I learned about the author, Muriel Weinstein, from a mutual poet friend (thanks, Shirley Brewer!) Shirley gushed about this poet and retired educator who, in her 80s, was starting a career as a successful children's author.
I had to speak with Muriel myself, so she's stopping by for the next few days to talk poetry, Jazz, late-life writing success and her muse, Louis Armstrong.
To whet your appetite, here is Satchmo playing "The Saints Go Marching In." Look for the Duke Ellington quote that opens the video clip.
Hi, Muriel. Congrats on your second book (PLAY, LOUIS, PLAY, published this month). What's your story? What led you to become a children's book author?
Hi, Laura! I've always written. As a kid, I remember creating my own magazine. I was the editor, the columnist, the interviewer and made up stories about everything from interviewing the milkman whose tin cart was pulled by a horse (his horse's hooves clopping on the gutter cement each morn awakened me) to interviewing imagined Hollywood stars. I even printed it myself.
Later, as a teacher, I loved the children's authors -- particularly Maurice Sendak. Even interviewed him and he sent me a note on how much he enjoyed the article. When teaching, I had stopped a lot of my own writing in favor of encouraging my students.
I think a lot of teachers who write have that experience.
Not till I retired did I start in earnest to write again. No longer motivating kids to write, I felt it was "my turn." Also, the arrival of grandchildren drove me to write stories for them.
Now I am writing full time. I have about a half dozen books in rough drafts. I can hear their voices shouting, "ME!!! ME!! take ME!! I'm NEXT!! Hurry! This drawer and file are like a PRISON."
What's it like to find publishing success as a senior senorita?
First, I must confess, I'm 87!! Cannot believe it. I look in the mirror and say, "That can't be me! I'm younger! Much younger!" What I'm really talking about is my spirit, my mental energy.
I love reading and selling and writing and am pumped up that I have my second book out (the chapter book bio, PLAY, LOUIS, PLAY) and can't wait for the third.
PLAY, LOUIS, PLAY is your second book featuring Louis Armstrong. How did he become your muse? What do you think makes him an interesting subject for kids to read?
I come from a home that was filled with music. Dad played the French horn, my brother -- the violin, Mom had a lovely alto and I played the piano. Neighbors would come in and we'd all join in together. That's was what led me to Louis. LOVED his voice and music. To me he was Cooool. While I played piano and loved music, I had a horrific voice. I sounded as if I were gargling!! That's why I really liked Louis A. A man whose voice was not as smooth as silk or who slid so meticulously into the various keys.
My first book WHEN LOUIS ARMSTRONG TAUGHT ME SCAT only deals with one aspect of Louis, his "scat," the musical skill of finding nonsense words that match in rhythm and mood to the song. PLAY, LOUIS, PLAY had to be researched. I had to read a great deal and cull what kids would be interested in.
I didn't want to do more than his youth because he had such a difficult, such a rough time that -- to me -- he is a heroic character. Other kids would complain about not having running water or an outdoor toilet or no bathtub or electricity. But Louis was the kind of kid and adult who only saw the "good" things. I fell in love with him while doing research.
The book is a testament to his strength of spirit, but it doesn't clobber the reader over the head with that "message."
The innate good in his character shines out. So many have difficulties and think they'll never rise above them. Louis did and his hurdles were huge.
I also think that today's kids do not have enough heroes and Louis was heroic. While some bad things happened to him, he rose above them and kept his eyes on his goal and he made it! I refer to such poverty that he didn't have shoes till he was in the orphanage. I refer to being picked up and taken away to a Colored Waifs Home.
But, as you show in PLAY, LOUIS, PLAY, Louis made the best of that situation. Your book shows him playing successfully with the Colored Waifs Home's band. Even as a child, Louis used a difficult experience to get closer to his goal of being a musician.
I'll post Part Two of my interview with the fabulous and spunky Miss Muriel tomorrow.
Here is one final holiday treat. It's Louis Armstrong reciting "The Night Before Christmas." Enjoy!
