Stalebread Charlie and the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Based on a true story, a vibrant, inspirational picture book about self-reliance and the power of creativity and music, in which a group of hungry homeless kids in 19th century New Orleans build their own musical instruments from discarded items and become a successful band.
It's 1895, and ten-year-old Stalebread Charlie and his friend Warm Gravy roam the streets of New Orleans, homeless and hungry. Stalebread has heard folks say that music feeds the soul—and he wonders if it could also fill their bellies. Soon he and his friends are playing instruments made out of junk—a fiddle from a cigar box, a kazoo from a comb—until their hats are filled with coins, their bellies are filled with beignets, and their souls are filled with music. This inspiring make-lemonade-from-lemons tale includes author/illustrator notes about the real Stalebread and the research behind the book and a make-your-own-instrument activity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Stalebread Charlie and his band were real figures in the early history of jazz. Homeless newsboys who played hot tunes on jug band style instruments, they busked the streets of New Orleans' legendary Storyville neighborhood in the 1890s. Mahin (Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters) explains the band's roots in a loving, wry voice (the narrator is revealed to be the band's feline mascot). Tired of surviving by stealing food and evading the police (the newsboys "liked to take their food to go. But sometimes they didn't take it fast enough"), Stalebread convinces his skeptical peers that they can make money with music. After some false starts, the band takes off, and "the boys filled their hats with coins and their bellies with beignets." The story uses onomatopoeias "Sing-Taka-Taka," "Scatta-Pat-Scat," and "Skippity-Bippity-Skip" to convey the band's sound, and buoyant illustrations by Tate (Strong as Sandow) show a lively depiction of street life. But the book succeeds as a prompt for readers to learn more about these seminal young musicians. The book includes an author's note and illustrator's note, as well as instructions on how to make a kazoo. Ages 4 7.
