Walter Dean Myers (1937-2014) was one of the premier authors of
books for children, and received numerous awards including a
Newbery Honor, recognition as the National Ambassador for Young
People's literature, and the first-ever Michael L. Printz award, a
Coretta Scott King honor, and a National Book Award finalist for
his novel Monster. He collaborated with Christopher Myers on Jazz
(a Coretta Scott King Honor book) and wrote Here in Harlem.
Christopher Myers is a writer and fine artist, but he is best known
for his award-winning picture books, including the Caldecott and
Coretta Scott King Honor book Harlem, written by his father, and
his own Black Cat and H.O.R.S.E, both of which received Coretta
Scott King Honor Awards. He lives and works in New York City.
★ "A powerful union of text and image transmutes itself into a work
of art-and it explains what the blues is, besides. Walter Dean
Myers takes fragments of blues songs and creates an arc of poetry
with them. His son, Christopher, using only brown paper, blue ink,
and white paint, creates a visual counterpoint to the words that
sometimes reflects them and other times goes to a different but
related place." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
★ "In this collection of original poems, Myers's blues extend
themselves to themes of racism, loneliness, slavery, and just plain
hard luck. Christopher Myers's illustrations are impressively
composed and imaginatively varied in design. You'll have to make up
the tunes, but Myers père et fils are so deeply immersed in the
rhythms and idioms of the blues that the music will seem to come
right out of you in response." —The Horn Book, Starred Review
"The blues' deceptively simple rhyme scheme tracks the deeper
feelings of lives that have been bruised. In this picture book for
older readers, Myers offers blues-inspired verse that touches on
the black-and-blue moments of individual lives. His son
Christopher's images, which illustrate the call-and-response text,
alternate between high spirited and haunting." —Booklist
Ask a Question About this Product More... |