Book Detail

Duke Ellington

Publication Information
Author:  Pinkney, Andrea Davis Illustrator:  Pinkney, Brian
Title:  Duke Ellington Date:  1998
Publisher:  Hyperion City:  New York
ISBN, paperback:  0-7868-0178-6 ISBN, hardback:  

Recommended audience:
ABE/ABLE:   Yes ESOL:  
Family:   Yes Young Adult:  
Picture:   Yes

General Information:
Book Type(s):    biography and autobiography, symbolic language

HSE Descriptor(s):    language arts - reading

Summary:
This is the story of one of the greatest musicians and composers of the 20th century, Duke Ellington. (Coretta Scott King Award Winner; Caldecott Honor Book)

Teaching Ideas:
This book would be a great addition to a unit on biographies, musicians, or African-American artists. The author and illustrator attempt to capture the rhythm of Duke Ellington in words and pictures; learners may want to explore how they do this (pair with Shange's I Live in Music or Igus's I Got Rhythm for this purpose). The idiomatic phrases from the period will also be fun to pursue. The text could also be paired with Belton's From Miss Ida's Porch and Katz's Black Legacy, which has an excellent chapter about jazz. The art is beautiful; students may want to look at other Brian Pinkney illustrations. PBS ran a series in early 1999 about Black artists called I'll Make Me a World (http://www.pbs.org/immaw). Duke Ellington http://duke.fuse.net; Harlem Renaissance www.nku.edu/~ndiesmarJ/harlem_intro.html; jazz www.jazzreview.com

Keywords: select any link below for a list of resources which also have that keyword
bullet Ethnic Groups > African-American
bullet History > region > U.S. history > Harlem Renaissance
bullet Literature and Language > figurative language
bullet Music > jazz
bullet Music > musicians > Ellington, Duke
bullet Social Studies > sociology > social issues > racism > segregation


Ohio Aspire

Contact us

Ohio Aspire
p: 800.765.2897 option 2
p: 330.672.2007 option 2
f: 330.672.4841
ohiopdn@literacy.kent.edu

Explore more resources at:

Ohio Aspire
PDN Library