The Lowdown on Denim

by Tanya Lloyd Kyi, Clayton Hanmer (Illustrator)

How a humble work pant got on everyone's backside and took over the world. In The Lowdown on Denim , narrators JD and Shred take readers on a trip through the history of jeans, demonstrating that, whatever their style, jeans have always driven and reflected popular culture. They use their interest in denim to escort readers from wartime to the rodeo circuit and from environmental concerns to the rock and roll stage. When blue jeans were invented in the 1870s, they were utilitarian -- baggy, only a single pocket and held up with suspenders. In the 1960s, they were bell-bottomed and embroidered, symbolizing the rebellion of the Woodstock era. Punks in the '70s held them together with safety pins, while '80s metal bands wore theirs acid-washed. Then the low-riding style worn by prisoners inspired '90s hip-hop fashion. Today, denim can be as personalized as an iPod playlist. With humorous comic-style illustrations throughout, this fun, fascinating social history will make readers think each time they pull on their jeans.

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle Grade, Historical

108 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2011

About the author

Tanya writes both fiction and non-fiction, often choosing topics related to science, pop culture, or social history—or a combination of the three. She enjoys combining factual research with intriguing narratives, or the life stories of interesting folks.

In her spare time, Tanya likes to run, bake, and read. Her favourite meal is breakfast, her favourite color is blue, and her favourite children’s book is A Wrinkle in Time.

Tanya grew up in Creston, B.C., and now lives in Vancouver with her husband, who claims to be the world's only Burmese occupational therapist. She balances writing time with parenthood, caring for her daughter Julia and her son Matthew.

Reviews

[Erin Reilly-Sanders · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had lots of pretty interesting information, although nothing earth shattering. It particularly seemed to suffer in the visual department, using only rather unattractive cartoon illustrations rather than bringing in some photographs or diagrams or primary source materials. I thought the people were generally a little funny looking but more distressingly didn't have much range of emotion. The frames were rather busy and felt messy, like hey had been done quickly and without much care. I liked the chapter on Indie labels quite a bit, since it added to the book but the sense of time gets lost (could have used a timeline, as old-fashioned as that might seem) throughout the book. I also somehow missed why they were called "jeans," which is also disappointing. Overall, it wasn't bad for a rather low budget production but if I had my choice I'd probably go for something else instead.

[Mikayla · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't really like the book because it was kind of hard to understand at some points and also because it was just as i thought just facts about denim. Overall this book is alright i wouldn't really recommend this to people because it was pretty boring.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot of facts about blue jeans. It was cool to know the history behind them and how they were used not only for cowboys, but for soldiers, sailors, workers and then how they became popular today.

The material was a bit dense for a juvenile book though so I took lots of breaks from reading it because I kind of got kind of bored of it easily (even though they tried to make it interesting).

I think the organization was a little strange and I agree with other readers that it would be a lot more interesting with photographs of jeans through the different time periods, on famous celebrities or featured in special events. This would have made the book a lot more interesting and less dense.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Lowdown on Denim by Tanya Lloyd Ky is by the same author as the 50 Questions series of comic book style nonfiction books for upper elementary students. This book covers the history of denim and the rise in popularity of blue jeans in the United States and then around the world. Ironically, I don't own a single pair of jeans!

Blue jeans were invented by Levi Strauss to give the gold miners in California something sturdy to wear. It's one of those inescapable facts when living in the Bay Area. So coming to this book as a Californian familiar with the history of denim and blue jeans, I was curious to see what was included in the book.

After the initial story of Levi Strauss and the ways in which denim styles changed in response to the needs of different industries, the book settles into a comparison of different brands. The brand centric latter half was less interesting than the early history.

On the author's blog, she has a post about the cover art being changed in the United States. Apparently the original cover showed the jeans down around the feet of a pair of hairy legs. The U.S. version, though, shows the jeans pulled up and torn and tattered as was the fashion when I was in high school.

Read via NetGalley

[Paula Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever wondered about your jeans ? Not the ones that make up who you are but the ones that you wear on your bottom half of your body ? Are you doing a school project on Denim ?
Tanya Lloyd Kyi gives children the lowdown on Denim from when it first originated to jeans and denim throughout the ages from the Wild Wild West where the cowboys roamed around in nothing but an open shirt/ no shirt at all and blue jeans to the times where jeans became fashion icons. From the different types of jeans - flares in the 60's / 70's to ripped jeans in the rock ages to skinny jeans to straight legged jeans and of course the new popular item of clothing for girls jeggings - these are denim looking tights.
Told in both a comic book form and written format , the lowdown on Denim is one to keep you interested and follows the same formula as the Horrible Histories books by Terry Deary.
So next time your teacher assigns you a project about Jeans or Denim , Check out Tanya Lloyd Kyi's book which gives readers "The 411( Lowdown) on Denim."

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very informative, and I really enjoyed reading it. I never knew that "sagging pants" came from convicts. I loved how the author incorporated comics, pictures, and little pops of extra information, into the book. This made it very enjoyable to read. The Lowdown On Denim also opened up my eyes to where my jeans came from, and the possible conditions of their creation. I'm definitely going to check where they were made from now on.

I'd recommend this book to someone who is a fan of wearing denim. How the author put JD and Shred in every comic really connects all the different ages of denim together.

[Yonina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was exactly what i excepted: Full of info on how jeans become the craze they are today.What i didn't expected was that jeans used to be illegal in certain country because they were "sinful" and people would go to extremes (like murder) just for a pair of jeans.I thought the book was laid out in a entertaining way while giving key important fact that will stick in your head.I am not a big fan of the history of denim but overall this was a pretty good book

[Amaal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book but not a lot because i didn't understand some parts of the book it had some graphic pictures but it didn't really go into the page that it is on. There was some interesting things about this book like how jeans were very popular and that everyone wore them, they were even banned from schools because they wore them too much. Well, i didn't like it a lot but i still learned more about jeans.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a good history of denim and jeans. I liked the quirky narrative of the detention kids; it added a bit of interest throughout the story. The history was very brand specific, but did contain a lot of information. I especially enjoyed the early history. The later stuff didn't seem as detailed or as interesting.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book was more educational then fun-to-read book about jeans. It taught me about the history of jeans and it talked about the geography of jeans too... I know it is hard to believe. The author chose pictures that did not make sense with the information but overal, it was an okay book.

[OhWell · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would have been better if instead of those annoying comics, each chapter would have been accompanied by a couple of relevant pictures...

[Caitlin]

I WANT TO READ IT YOU IDIOTS

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a part graphic novel part informational text about the history of denim. The information was very interesting, and the illustrations would appeal to a middle school audience.

[Vidya Tiru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detention can be interesting if it includes time travel to complete a book-report you are required to do as part of your detention activity!
Two middle-schoolers find themselves on a journey through time as they uncover the fascinating history of that iconic wear without which most cannot imagine the world today - the jeans. It had a humble start with gold-miners wearing it because they needed it for work; and fast-forward to today, where we need a gold-mine all our own to afford some of those high-end jeans!
Quirky illustrations, comics interspersed with more detailed textual chapters, humor, and fun-facts on equally fun-jean-sidebars make this an enjoyable and informative read for the intended audience - middle-schoolers.

disclaimer:a long overdue honest review on this digital review copy that i give thanks to netgalley for..