Sweet Music in Harlem

by Debbie A. Taylor, Frank Morrison (Illustrator)

C.J. needs to act fast. A photographer from Highnote magazine is on his way to photograph Uncle Click, a well-known jazz musician, but Uncle Click's signature hat is missing. Now it's up to C. J. to hunt down the hat in time for the photo shoot. Little does C. J. know that his whirlwind search through Harlem sets in motion the making of a magical moment of friendship and music.

Genres: Music, Picture Books, Childrens, Historical Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[Kanani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Best suited for a child in 3-4th grade.

[Che · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent story. The illustrations were superb! I can't wait to add this to my children's library.

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very full of fun and energy, though perhaps a little too wordy. Also, while I absolutely LOVE Frank Morison's illustrations in general (so vibrant!), sometimes he seems to forget to take into account how the text is going to be integrated onto the page when he creates his paintings, which sometimes leads to a slightly less professional look (though the composition here is MUCH better than in The Roots of Rap).

[Sandra Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was inspired by a photograph on a t-shirt where famous jazz singers posed for in Harlem, New York. This story begins with Uncle Click frantically looking for his beret for a picture that will be taken of him for a Jazz magazine. As C.J. begins looking for his hat at the barber, restaurant and nightclub, people get word of this photo and begin to make their way over. In each place they give C.J. something his Uncle Click left behind. A watch, bow tie and handkerchief. In the end all the people gather for the photo. After the photo Uncle Click gives C.J. an early birthday present, a brand new clarinet. They discover the hat in the box the clarinet was in.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute story about a young Black boy and his grandpa, who is a musician in Harlem. This book would pair well with the nonfiction picture book Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun story about a boy racing to find his uncle's hat for a photoshoot; in the process, he gathers a whole troop of jazz musicians to also be in the photo. I love that this story is based on a real photograph with some of the most incredible musicians in Harlem in 1958. The artwork is awesome!

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is not really age appropriate (too advanced) for a picture book. The reading is on a first or second grade level, I think, and I believe picture books lean toward kindergarten and younger.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The real picture at the end is way cool!

[Charlotte Young Bowens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this tale about music and Harlem, look forward to this local author's next book (hint, hint).

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Category: diverse
Fun book about musicians in Harlem - illustrations add to the Harlem feel

[Mitchell M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet Music in Harlem
Grade/interest level: Upper Elementary (4th to 5th)
Reading level: Fountas and Pinnell: Q
Grade: 4.6
Genre: picture book, historical fiction

Main Characters: CJ
Setting: Harlem
POV: from outsiders’ point of view

There is a photographer on his way to photograph Uncle Click who is a very well known jazz musician. Uncle Click’s signature hat is missing and CJ needs to find it before the photographer gets to Harlem. The story takes place in Harlem in the year 1958. The main character is CJ and the book has illustrations of how CJ has to run around Harlem trying to find his uncle’s signature hat.

This is a picture book and it is pretty easy to follow for me and probably at a good level to understand for 4th and 5th graders. Although it is a picture book, I don’t think it would be okay to use in the younger grades only because there are concepts they might not be able to pick up. The references to Harlem’s jazz and music connection might be a little bit too hard for the younger grades to grasp.

Other than that the illustrations are super detailed. It was an awesome display of artistry and it might be fun to put this in a classroom library or even use it as a read aloud showing the beautiful illustrations and narrating the story for the children.

[Leslie Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Themes:Community, family

Connections: Music, communications, African American history and culture

Review:
This story was inspired by a famous photograph of musicians, taken in Harlem in 1958. Through the action of this story, during which the main character searches for his uncle's hat, the reader receives a tour of a part of Harlem in the late 1950s. The characters in the book are all African-American, and we see how community members interact and rely on one another over the course of a day. Music plays an important role in the story, however young readers may not be able to sustain interest in the goal of finding the hat.

Also, many references in the story, such as to the Apollo Theater, may not be familiar to younger readers. Students who are studying this time period may be interested in the story, but the historical references may be too thin to resonate with them. So I think that this book is fun to read, and beautifully illustrated, but may be a bit too sophisticated for young readers and a bit too simplistic for upper elementary.

[Tauna Garvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book, the illustrations were really unique and brought something different to the book. Its about a boy helping his grandfather find his hat for a picture cause he is an amazing trumpet player. The book is based off the picture which it has the real picture in the back of all these famous jazz players. Very good!

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going through as many Frank Morrison books as I can track down--boy howdy, do I LOVE his little Easter eggs throughout the pages. I hadn't read the premise of the book prior to reading it, and as I began to pick up on where it was headed, I just got more and more excited. Pretty great concept and execution.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice re-imagining of a famous photo I've seen & wondered about. The illustrations caught my son's attention, too.

[Kristen Leininger]

Picture Book: Full of excitement and the atmosphere of Harlem. Amazing illustrations.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story about jazz musicians in Harlem with the real picture in the back. The best part was the author's note on how the story came about.

[Beyond the Pages with Eva K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this book. The story behind the picture was a brilliant idea.