"Dizzy"
by Jonah Winter is about John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie, the famous
Jazz musician! His story is an amazing one and gives hope to so many different
types of students.. As the book begins, we see Dizzy as a young child plagued
by many issues. The way that the book depicts Dizzy being bullied and abused by
his father made me sad, but kept it at a level that is age appropriate for
students. I really liked in the book when Dizzy got excited about playing Jazz
and that it was a way to get his anger out, I love that the author showed this
as an outlet for young students. When Dizzy gets to New York, the illustrations
put us right in the middle of the Jazz scene. When the author says, "he
played diddly diddly bop de biddly wah wah de BLEEEEEP" I really felt as
if I could hear the music. When the illustrations depict a quiet time they have
hues of blues and when they are showing jazz they have reds and oranges, it
makes me really fall into each emotion. The book was very well written and was
perfect for it's intended audience. It gave us enough information to really get
to know Dizzy as a musician. On a side note, I think the book really lends itself
to be used when talking about bullying, abuse, controlling emotions, and etc.
This book was wonderful and I know I will be integrating it in my future
classroom! :)
Reference:
Winter, J. (2006). Dizzy. Arthur A. Levine Books. 
This really sounds like a fascinating book that, as you said, can be used for a variety of different topics. I think the story and the illustrations you described would be wonderful and intriguing to students. So often, emotions and hardships are "hush hush" and not discussed by teachers because they feel it isn't their place; however, I think it is excellent that you intend you have an open door to difficult issues. Using literature is a great way to achieve a comfortable environment for students, while also trying to help them through or with something difficult. Kudos to you, Jessica!
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