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Dizzy
An acclaimed biographer for children, Jonah Winter brings historical figures to life for young listeners. Here, he turns his talents to jazz legend John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie. Born into poverty and the victim of vicious parental abuses, Dizzy received a trumpet one day and it changed his life forever. Dizzy follows Gillespie's journey from rural South Carolina to New York City - straight into the burgeoning jazz scene he soon immersed himself in.
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First published January 1, 2006
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About the author
Jonah Winter
66 books83 followersJonah Winter is the celebrated author of many picture book biographies, including Barack, which was a New York Times bestseller. His books include Here Comes the Garbage Barge, Sonia Sotomayor, Roberto Clemente, and more. A poet and a painter, Mr. Winter divides his time between Santa Fe and a small town in Pennsylvania.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
January 19, 2020
Dizzy was a crazy dude. He cut up on stage a lot. He really did make a name for himself and he came up with a whole new style of jazz. He had a very hard childhood. He was bullied and abused. Music was really his way out of his home.
The artwork is amazing here. The art is moving and grooving and helps put the mood of bebop jazz forward. It’s great artwork. I learned something reading this book. I like that.
The nephew thought this guy was funny. He would shoot spit wads out of his horn during the concert and that speaks to my nephew. He thought it was a good story. He gave this 3 stars.
The artwork is amazing here. The art is moving and grooving and helps put the mood of bebop jazz forward. It’s great artwork. I learned something reading this book. I like that.
The nephew thought this guy was funny. He would shoot spit wads out of his horn during the concert and that speaks to my nephew. He thought it was a good story. He gave this 3 stars.
September 2, 2016
My daughter, 6, chose this book from the library earlier today and it lead to a great evening. We read the book together and then I put on some music by Dizzy Gillespie and we watched him play, but we also had a conversation about the challenges he overcame. The value of books like this for children is that they setup these conversations and allow for cultural, historical, and social conversations across ages.
Further, the book uses art and structure creatively to mirror his creativity and his going outside of the rules with the purpose of creating something new.
While I do not review every book that I read to my children, I wanted to review this one for the beauty of the book itself, for introducing biography as a form of writing, and for being so easy to tie to diverse elements like music, history, etc. that my children are just beginning to explore.
A great work for those reasons and more, it is definitely worth a look and we will be adding it to our library soon. BEBOP!
Further, the book uses art and structure creatively to mirror his creativity and his going outside of the rules with the purpose of creating something new.
While I do not review every book that I read to my children, I wanted to review this one for the beauty of the book itself, for introducing biography as a form of writing, and for being so easy to tie to diverse elements like music, history, etc. that my children are just beginning to explore.
A great work for those reasons and more, it is definitely worth a look and we will be adding it to our library soon. BEBOP!
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June 17, 2021a great picture book where the tone, art, and narrative converge well to track jazz icon Dizzy Gillespie's innovative, improvised, iconoclastic way of playing jazz
March 2, 2011
3.5 STARS
The story of Dizzy Gillespie, father of bebop, and I wanted to love it! Dizzy's story is inspiring in that he came from an abusive situation in a small Southern town (his father beat him, and he also faced the oppression blacks in the South endured during his childhood in the early 1920s). At first, he struck out and got into fights with other kids. But, then a wise teacher gave him a trumpet and he began to play out his feelings. He fell in love with music, and felt drawn to jazz, eventually making his own style of both music and performance as he moved away from "swing" music into bebop and made lots of silly faces and dance steps while he played. Also, he was married to the same woman all his life and never did drugs, unlike many jazz stars of the day. But, I wasn't ultimately sold on the presentation here. The illustrations did not suit my taste (though the cover one is adorable) as I did not like the red pouring out of the trumpet; I think it was supposed to represent the "fire" of Dizzy's performance, but to me it looked too much like blood and rage and kept bringing to mind his early days of abuse and fighting when I think the point was that he had moved beyond that because of his music. Also, I did not like the choice of words at the end of the book when it said that Dizzy "knocked down" the old house of jazz and built a new one. I get the meaning, of course, but it just seemed, again, to keep bringing up violence when Dizzy was so much into creating beautiful music and being free and original and fun.
The story of Dizzy Gillespie, father of bebop, and I wanted to love it! Dizzy's story is inspiring in that he came from an abusive situation in a small Southern town (his father beat him, and he also faced the oppression blacks in the South endured during his childhood in the early 1920s). At first, he struck out and got into fights with other kids. But, then a wise teacher gave him a trumpet and he began to play out his feelings. He fell in love with music, and felt drawn to jazz, eventually making his own style of both music and performance as he moved away from "swing" music into bebop and made lots of silly faces and dance steps while he played. Also, he was married to the same woman all his life and never did drugs, unlike many jazz stars of the day. But, I wasn't ultimately sold on the presentation here. The illustrations did not suit my taste (though the cover one is adorable) as I did not like the red pouring out of the trumpet; I think it was supposed to represent the "fire" of Dizzy's performance, but to me it looked too much like blood and rage and kept bringing to mind his early days of abuse and fighting when I think the point was that he had moved beyond that because of his music. Also, I did not like the choice of words at the end of the book when it said that Dizzy "knocked down" the old house of jazz and built a new one. I get the meaning, of course, but it just seemed, again, to keep bringing up violence when Dizzy was so much into creating beautiful music and being free and original and fun.
November 25, 2015
Told in free verse reminiscent of Dizzy's style of music, I would think this would be fun to read (after a little bit of practice) to kids with his music playing in the background.
June 28, 2017
If Duke Ellington was the Prince of Jazz, the Dizzy Gillespie is the Clown of Jazz! He had a hard life, being beaten by his father and other in the neighborhood. But when a music teacher shows him the trumpet, everything changes. He quickly realizes he has talent, moves to Philly and "started acting silly." He could hit notes others couldn't, creating beats and melodies others never thought of before. He was the Clown of Jazz, but he could play like no other.
October 17, 2016
Dizzy
By Jonah Winter Illustrated by Sean Qualls
Dizzy Gillespie is one of the greatest trumpet players of all time. This book is a great way to introduce children to the era of jazz called Bebop. Bebop is one of the most interesting styles of jazz because it has a fast tempo and complex chord progressions. Those characterizations, make audiences very excited when listening to bebop. That excited and fast paced scat-like quality is replicated so well in this book.
This book would be such an interesting choice for a teacher to read during black history month. It is a refreshing pace from the Rosa Parks and MLK Jr. curriculum. Students can discover that African Americans have been paving the ways in music for many, many years. The only thing that is lacking is the historical presence in this book. Yes, it is supposed to capture the sounds and feelings of bebop, but the author could have taken this idea a little bit further and talked about how Dizzy contributed a lot to the music world and "made waves"as an African American.
I would love to be reading this book while listening to some of Dizzy GIllespie’s music. The images and illustrations match the vivid beauty of his music. For example, one could look at this title picture and listen to any of songs (Monteca, Groovin’ High, Salt Peanuts, A Night in Tunisia….) and the reader could get a sense of the Era Dizzy was living in.
Bebop originated in the 1940’s and is a little bit more exciting than swing music because the sounds and melodies are more daring, like the images in this book. The color choices are bold and the words dance across the page happily, like his music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgN18...
Salt peanuts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg1Wl...
Manteca: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5tRG...
A Night in Tunisia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQYXn...
By Jonah Winter Illustrated by Sean Qualls
Dizzy Gillespie is one of the greatest trumpet players of all time. This book is a great way to introduce children to the era of jazz called Bebop. Bebop is one of the most interesting styles of jazz because it has a fast tempo and complex chord progressions. Those characterizations, make audiences very excited when listening to bebop. That excited and fast paced scat-like quality is replicated so well in this book.
This book would be such an interesting choice for a teacher to read during black history month. It is a refreshing pace from the Rosa Parks and MLK Jr. curriculum. Students can discover that African Americans have been paving the ways in music for many, many years. The only thing that is lacking is the historical presence in this book. Yes, it is supposed to capture the sounds and feelings of bebop, but the author could have taken this idea a little bit further and talked about how Dizzy contributed a lot to the music world and "made waves"as an African American.
I would love to be reading this book while listening to some of Dizzy GIllespie’s music. The images and illustrations match the vivid beauty of his music. For example, one could look at this title picture and listen to any of songs (Monteca, Groovin’ High, Salt Peanuts, A Night in Tunisia….) and the reader could get a sense of the Era Dizzy was living in.
Bebop originated in the 1940’s and is a little bit more exciting than swing music because the sounds and melodies are more daring, like the images in this book. The color choices are bold and the words dance across the page happily, like his music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgN18...
Salt peanuts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg1Wl...
Manteca: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5tRG...
A Night in Tunisia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQYXn...
November 16, 2014
The book "Dizzy" walks through the life of Dizzy Gillespie, a well known trumpet player. It begins with Dizzy as a child, and shares how he was beat up by bullies and beat by his father. One day, Dizzy decided to fight back. He beat up bullies constantly. He was angry all of the time. Then one day his teacher gave him a trumpet. Dizzy began to play and play. He wasn't good at first, but he practiced each day. He got into jazz, and started finding jobs in a band playing music. His main goal was to get noticed, so he would play pranks and make jokes. One day he got fired from his job, and he still found new places to perform. Many were impressed with his style, and they just listened when he played. Dizzy left a lasting legacy on jazz.
This book has beautiful illustrations and the words are arranged on pages in such a way that the reader will constantly be lead to turn to the next page. This biography is informational in a way that many students would understand, and they would enjoy reading this book to find information about Dizzy Gillespie.
This book has beautiful illustrations and the words are arranged on pages in such a way that the reader will constantly be lead to turn to the next page. This biography is informational in a way that many students would understand, and they would enjoy reading this book to find information about Dizzy Gillespie.
December 10, 2009
This biography of Dizzy Gillespie does a good job of telling the story of his life. But I did not particularly enjoy the way in which the text was written. I guess it was supposed to be written like a poem or like jazz or something, but it didn't work for me. Dizzy also sounds like he was really obnoxious to work with - the author admits that Dizzy only did these shenanigans to get attention. (Shouldn't a member of a jazz band be more of a team player and not be trying to get all the attention for himself? But I digress.) I suspect that Dizzy had plenty of good qualities, but they weren't mentioned - the focus was on how off-the-wall he was. I don't think I should come away from a children's biography of a great musician with a bad opinion about the subject of the book, and that's what happened here. While I think the book does a good job of telling the basic story of one jazz artist's rise to fame, I think it was missing something. Dizzy wasn't three-dimensional enough for me.
August 29, 2011
For many people, Dizzy Gillespie is best known for his bent horn and puffy cheeks. This superb book gives us an entertaining, concise biographical sketch of the boy who grew to become one of the all time jazz greats. From difficult beginnings, Dizzy not only learns to play, but amazes everyone with his skill, as well as his talent for getting attention. Witty language and jazzy rhymes move things along, and the author also educates us on the bebop style of jazz that Gillespie helped create. The illustrations and text are perfectly matched and work seamlessly together, elevating the book as a whole. There is some violence mentioned in the early stages, as well as lots of rule-breaking, so consider your audience when sharing this book. The author’s notes at the end provide more biographical information on this artist. However, there is no discography. You might start with his 1947 "Manteca." Ages 8-11.
April 20, 2012
Emulating the trademark bebop his subject created, author Jonah Winter plays with language and sound in this picture book biography of Dizzy Gillespie. Some readers may be surprised to learn that the musician was picked on and bullied as a child. Once he started trading blows with his assailants, he became something of a bully himself, perhaps emulating the actions of his own abusive father. Eventually Dizzy channels his anger into music, and the book follows his trek from a small South Carolina town to New York City, whose pace seemed to suit him. While Dizzy was not perfect and some might have considered him a clown or a showboat, young--and old--readers may be surprised to learn that he stayed married to the same woman his entire life. I loved the wau the lines swirl across the pages in a bebop fashion, and I also enjoyed the acrylic, collage, and pencil paintings that focus on this innovative musician.
March 24, 2017
This is the story of John Birks Gillespie, the famous horn player. He was born poor, was bullied by other boys, was mistreated by his own dad, and became a very angry person who learned to fight back. One day his teacher gave him a trumpet to play. He played it badly at first but it was a release for his inner rage, and eventually he became the best musician in his town. Dizzy didn't like to do things by the rules, so he did it his own way. That often got him into trouble, but he enjoyed the attention no matter how it came.
Actually, this is the story of "Dizzy" Gillespie, the famous horn player who invented Bebop.
Actually, this is the story of "Dizzy" Gillespie, the famous horn player who invented Bebop.
September 5, 2018
S needed to read a biography for summer reading, so we randomly picked this one from the biography section. J read this to S but I overheard most of the story as it was being read. I thought to myself, "This is pretty dark for a kids' book." Sure enough, later on S seemed more focused on how "bad" Dizzy had behaved in the story than on his jazz skills. I can see the utility in the message here (channel your anger and frustration with your crappy situation into something like trumpet playing) but it didn't quite hit for my son. Maybe if he were a bit older he would have understood it better.
December 16, 2018
Sean Qualls' art provides the ideal backdrop for a text that begs to be read like slam poetry. It is all so stunning I had to go back and reread it numerous times.
Dizzy Gillespie did not have an easy beginning. He lived with an abusive father and was bullied by other children. When he discovered the trumpet, he blew all his anger and pain out into it. Eventually he created a new kind of jazz called bebop.
I appreciated the additional information at the back of the book that filled me in on additional information about him.
Dizzy Gillespie did not have an easy beginning. He lived with an abusive father and was bullied by other children. When he discovered the trumpet, he blew all his anger and pain out into it. Eventually he created a new kind of jazz called bebop.
I appreciated the additional information at the back of the book that filled me in on additional information about him.
November 21, 2018
Genre: Nonfiction (biography)
Date:11-12
Grade Range: 2-5
This book is about famous trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. It details how he started playing the trumpet, became famous for his funny antics, and how he founded Bee-bop. This book is ab entertaining read as it uses onomatopoeia to make the horn sounds. I found this book to be informative about a famous musician you do not hear much about anymore.
Date:11-12
Grade Range: 2-5
This book is about famous trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. It details how he started playing the trumpet, became famous for his funny antics, and how he founded Bee-bop. This book is ab entertaining read as it uses onomatopoeia to make the horn sounds. I found this book to be informative about a famous musician you do not hear much about anymore.
April 15, 2017
Interesting non-fiction book about a famous jazz musician, Dizzy. I thought it was well-written, in a lyrical jazz way. The illustrations matched the story style.
The kids both enjoyed the book. We learned a lot about Dizzy's life and the inspiration
behind his musical career.
This book is better suited to elementary students than to young toddlers.
The kids both enjoyed the book. We learned a lot about Dizzy's life and the inspiration
behind his musical career.
This book is better suited to elementary students than to young toddlers.
July 9, 2018
The illustrations in DIZZY are beautiful and this is an interesting, important picture book biography of Dizzy Gillespie. It reminded me of TROMBONE SHORTY in both content in style, but DIZZY fell a little short for me. TROMBONE SHORTY was just a little more colorful, engaging, and had more heart. DIZZY is still worth reading and getting for your library, but I didn't absolutely love it.
February 6, 2017
The story was okay but I found the back author note about him more interesting than the actual story. More informational. The story seemed a little off because they talked about him being a bad kid and less about how he changed the Jazz.
February 14, 2017
The story of Dizzy Gillespie from boyhood to stardom.
Definitely doesn't cover the fact that Dizzy misbehaved from time to time. Nice to read about a famous person who isn't portrayed as "perfect."
Definitely doesn't cover the fact that Dizzy misbehaved from time to time. Nice to read about a famous person who isn't portrayed as "perfect."
March 10, 2017
A story for a younger audience about the life of musician Dizzy Gillespie and the troubles he faced in growing up and finding solace in his music and playing the horn. Non fiction and not a quick read aloud to a group but good read for a child who loves playing the horn or music.
March 16, 2017
I do not like jazz music. At all. But this biography of jazz great Dizzy Gillespie is so engaging. It combines fabulous, playful language with lots of facts plus insight into what made Dizzy so great. Excellent picture book biography!
August 12, 2017
"He took all the anger he felt inside and blasted it out through the end of his horn. It was really loud."
For Dizzy, jazz was like breaking the rules and like inventing new rules. It was like getting in trouble - for fun.
Dizzy Gillespie, inventor of Bebop jazz.
For Dizzy, jazz was like breaking the rules and like inventing new rules. It was like getting in trouble - for fun.
Dizzy Gillespie, inventor of Bebop jazz.
March 20, 2019
Really effective depictions of the music - via both the text layout which evokes jazz rhythm, and the illustrations - with good extra information in the back. I can see reading this with a child before introducing them to jazz, especially bebop.
October 26, 2015
Listened to the audio while looking at the book. Last week we went to the McCallum and listened to Dizzy Gillespie's music.
March 2, 2017
How one of the best trumpet players got that way.
March 12, 2017
Musical text evokes the rhythms of jazz.
March 8, 2018
Dizzy is a book about the famous jazz trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie.
November 24, 2018
11/21/2018 ~ Another picture book biography that I'll be adding to my elementary school library.
March 6, 2018
This is a true story about a famous musician playing his horn, he went by the name of dizzy. Dizzy was a tiny boy so would get picked on by other kid because of it, he hated being billed so he would actually fight a lot he didn't matter that he was small he stood his ground. Except for the abuse from his father, his father was mean and sometimes would be a bit to physically abusive towards Dizzy. When dizzy got older he moved Deep South, where he became apart of a band. He was later fired for being so silly, he then moved to New York and became apart of another band. although Dizzy was amazing he was later fired again for being silly, he would perform falling out of his chairs, taking over playing the piano same time a his for horn causing the other musician to become angry. Shortly after Dizzy continued playing his horn, and he later found himself performing at night clubs with his name on the billboards at clubs that were just for listening instead of dancing, and thats all Dizzy really wanted, to be heard.
The literary of this book was very simple, short words being used with big letters great book for kindergarten children to read along.
I gave the book 5stars, because the end of the books says "Dizzy success came from being different". Its a great way letting children know that even if they are considered that they could still be successful.
The literary of this book was very simple, short words being used with big letters great book for kindergarten children to read along.
I gave the book 5stars, because the end of the books says "Dizzy success came from being different". Its a great way letting children know that even if they are considered that they could still be successful.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews