PLAY, LOUIS, PLAY!
The True Story of a Boy and His Horn
by Muriel Harris Weinstein & illustrated by Frank Morrison
Weinstein, author of the lighthearted picture book When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (2008), lofts another tribute, this time in short chapters. The subtitle’s belied straightaway as the narrator, Armstrong’s first cornet, begins opining enthusiastically from the display window of a New Orleans “hock shop.” Claiming that Louis would “talk to me as if we were brothers, tell me every note in his life” and invoking Armstrong’s lifelong journaling habit, the narrator liberally interjects dialogue and serves as a sort of touchstone for the impoverished boy’s musical dreams. Biographical details, mostly sanitized for primary graders, enrich the upbeat text, and although a few of Louis’ scrapes with police are highlighted, the emphasis is on Armstrong’s extraordinary musical gifts and the appreciation with which they were met, from childhood street quartets through his arrival in Chicago. A glossary defines words like “outhouse” and “vocalist” but not the oft-used term “colored.” Best enjoyed as fiction, it’s still a resonant first connection to Armstrong’s hard-knock beginnings, determination and towering jazz innovations. Illustrations not seen. (afterword, references) (Historical fiction. 7-10)