Duke
Ellington
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illus. by Brian Pinkney
Duke
Ellington
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illus. by Brian Pinkney
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Published by Hyperion Books, New York, 1998 |
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Webpage created by: Michal Morris, Jacqueline N. Reedy, Molly Coy, Craig Dunkleberger
Book talk
"Duke Ellington" by Andrea and Brian Pinkney is a book celebrating the life of Duke Ellington, who is one of the most inspirational jazz musicians of his time. Duke Ellington was one of a few jazz musicians that changed the music of jazz forever. The story starts out when young Duke Ellington is learning to play the piano and hears ragtime music being played. He practiced very hard and eventually started to gain a following. He formed a small band called the Washingtonians, and they performed all over New York and Washington DC. People went and bought his records by the thousands. Soon the Washingtonians were playing at the Cotton Club, which was Harlem's swankiest nightclub.
Sonny Greer played the snare drum, Sonny Nanton played the trombone, Toby Hardwick played the saxophone, and James Miley played the horn. Duke Ellington was the most famous of all of them and he played the piano. In 1939, Duke hired Billy Strayhorn to write songs for the group. Now the group really started to soar on the charts and finally got to play at New York's Carnegie Hall. Few African Americans ever got to play there, and the Washingtonians introduced Black, Brown, and Beige. Overall, Duke Ellington is a great book that celebrates African American History as well as jazz music. The illustrations really fit well with the plot of the story. Pinkney uses the scratchboard technique in his illustrations to show color and textures in his books.
Andrea Davis Pinkney:
Andrea Davis Pinkney was
born in Washington, D.C., the eldest of three children. She graduated from
Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications with a bachelor’s
degree in journalism. She started her career as a gardening editor for
a small home-gardening magazine in New York City. While working for the
magazine she met her husband Brian Pinkney. At nights and on weekends,
during her time at the magazine she spent her time writing short stories,
essays and poems.
Andrea Davis Pinkney eventually left the magazine to write full time. She wrote articles for American Visions, Highlights for Children, Executive Female and Essence magazine. Pinkney is now a childrens book editor at a New York Publishing house. She was recently honored with the Highlights for Children Best Arts Feature of the Year for her article on dancer Katherine Dunham. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, New York.
Brian Pinkney: (see also In
the Time of Drums )
Brian Pinkney was born in
Boston, Massachusetts and later moved to New York. His father was an artist
and his mother was a writer. He always knew he wanted to be an illustrator
because he wanted to be just like his father. Pinkney holds a bachelor
degree in arts from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
and a master’s degree in illustration from the School of Visual Arts in
New York City. He began his career with assignments for publications such
as the New York Times, Women’s Day, Ebony Man, Business Tokyo and
Amtrak Express magazine. His illustrations have also appeared in numerous
textbooks.
Pinkney has illustrated more than twenty children’s book. He received the 1996 Caldecott Honor Book Award and 1996 Corretta Scott King Honor Book Award for The Faithful Friend and is a four-time winner of the Parents Choice Award for illustrations. Pinkney has also illustrated many picture books written by his wife Andrea Davis Pinkney. He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife and daughter.
These ideas are general and would have to be refined to suit the grade level and the particular students:
Art – The children can do their own scratch board drawings.
Writing – Using Better Then Book Reports, complete an activity and relate it to the story through literary analysis. The teacher has the flexibility to choose the activity that best relates to his or her class.
Discussion – How has the Jazz music and culture effected the music that is being produced today?
Creative Dramatics – Teach children to do the Charleston
Social Studies – Teach the children about other mediums of art that existed during the Harlem Renaissance. These would include writers, poets, and artists.
Andrea
Davis Pinkney, a noted children’s author, has written several works
for a variety of age groups. For the preschool level, she has written
"Shake, Shake, Shake", and "Watch Me Dance". For grades kindergarten
through third grade, Pinkney has authored "Alvin Ailey", "Dear Benjamin
Banneker", "Seven Candles for Kwanzaa", "Solo Girl", "Hold Fast To Dreams",
and "Raven in a Dove House".
Pinkney's husband,
Brian,
has illustrated many of his wife's books, as well as authored several on
his own. The Pinkneys have teamed up to produce
"Bill Picket-
Rodeo Ridin' Cowboy", "Dear Benjamin Banneker",
"Alvin Ailey",
and "Seven Candles for Kwanzaa". Brian Pinkney has illustrated
for several other authors in works such as "Sukey and the Mermaid"
and "The Faithful Friend" both by Robert D. San Souci, and "The
Dark-Thirty" by Patricia McKissack. Mr. Pinkney has authored
"The
Adventures of Sparrowboy", "JoJo's Flying Sidekick", and "Max
Found Two Sticks". The overlying theme throughout all of Andrea
Davis and Brian Pinkney's work is ethnic and African American traditions,
holidays, and culture.
Go to www.ilinks.net/~holmesr/dukelink.htm then click on one of the sites that offers music files. Listen to one of the music files that are listed. Close your eyes and picture the mood of the music. Get an idea of how the rhythm and melody blend. Then look at the title of the song, and using the title as a theme, write lyrics to the music. Then draw a picture to match the lyrics.
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