Ben's Trumpet: A Caldecott Honor Award Winner – A Poignant Art-Deco Story for Kids (Ages 4-8) About Jazz and Musical Yearning - Softcover

Isadora, Rachel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0688109888 ISBN 13: 9780688109882

Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 1991

Synopsis

The story of Ben is fiction, but it could be the story of more than one jazz musician who grew up in the twenties. Using the art-deco style of the period, Rachel Isadora not only captures the poignancy and yearning of a youthful talent, but in page after page of striking art seems to convey the very sound of music.

About this title

About the Author

Many children dream of becoming dancers, musicians, actors, and artists, but few have the opportunity, the skill, and the determination to live out those dreams. Rachel Isadora is the exception. When she was young, she wanted to be a ballerina--and she became one. And now she has firmly established herself in a second career as an artist with an impressive string of picture books, including Ben's Trumpet, a Caldecott Honor Book.

Born and raised in New York City, Rachel studied at the School of American Ballet (associated with the New York City Ballet) as a Ford Foundation scholarship student. She danced with the Boston Ballet until a foot injury forced her to consider another career: book illustration. "I had always drawn for my own entertainment," says Rachel, "but I'd never had any instruction, and I wasn't sure how to proceed. So I just took a collection of sketches-odds and ends on bits of paper-to the first editor who would see me. She suggested I do a book about what I knew best." The result was Max, published in 1976 and named an ALA Notable Book.

Since Max, Rachel has written and illustrated many other books, and has illustrated three books by her editor, Elizabeth Shub. When Rachel begins a new book, she first imagines the story through the pictures. I 'see' each illustration separately," she says. "I write a description of what I envision on each page; then I go over it with my editor and make revisions. Next I do the actual drawing, and finally I write the text."

Rachel Isadora lives in New York City with her two children. When she is not busy with her family, she spends most of her spare time drawing. "Work like this is a dancer's fantasy," she says. "Because ballet is so demanding, dancers' stage careers are short. They can only dream of going on and on forever. With art, I can go on and on, and for me it's the only work that compares in intensity and joy."

From the Back Cover

The story of Ben is fiction, but it could be the story of more than one jazz musician who grew up in the twenties. Using the art-deco style of the period, Rachel Isadora not only captures the poignancy and yearning of a youthful talent, but in page after page of striking art seems to convey the very sound of music.

Reviews

Featuring stunning, evocative black-and-white art, this Caldecott Honor book concerns a boy growing up in the 1920s who aspires to be a jazz musician--"Ben thinks the trumpeter is the cat's meow." Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688109888
• ISBN 13: 9780688109882
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Isadora Rachel
• Number of pages: 40