Children's books about JAZZ!

I LOVE children's books!

I LOVE children's books that share great information in a meaningful way even better.  I find that children's books are especially useful in helping my students experience Jazz.

Today I'm going to share my very favorite Jazz books as well as a few that are on my "I can barely wait" wish list!


You can use these books as part of a larger in depth study of jazz OR you can sprinkle them all over your lessons so that Jazz just becomes part of what you do in your classroom. I've used them both ways and there are distinct advantages to both.






Jazz Books that I use all the time - if you are wanting a nice survey of Jazz music or simply want to provide your students with a "toe in" to the deep sea of Jazz music, I would suggest the following titles.

      

• "The Jazz Fly" is just a great book for all grade levels.  The CD also makes it a great choice for poor voice days or substitute teachers. 

• "The Jazz Man" is a reinterpretation of the song "This Old Man" so it can be used to compare and contrast with the old folk song.

• "Jazz on a Saturday Night" is a great choice for older students. The CD is very informative and quite good. 

• "Jazzy Alphabet" is fun to read and a perfect for Kindergarten and First grade. 

Jazz Books that I love:  - I pull these great books out when I want to focus on something specific, either a specific Jazz Artist, OR a specific jazz style. 

     

• "The Hip Cat" is an awesome book to read aloud and does a great job of getting into the cool lingo of jazz and telling the tail of a struggling jazz musician who eventually makes it big. 

• "A-Tisket A-Tasket" goes wonderfully with the song by Ella Fitzgerald.  I use it with first grade. 

• "Ella Fitgerald" - It's always great to have as many biographies on hand.  This is a great one. 

• "Jazz Fly 2" - This book is similar in format the the original, but this book embraces and explores Latin Jazz. 

Books on my "I can hardly wait" Jazz Wish List: 

I am hoping to put together a list of books for a project on donorschoose.org.  If you have one of these books, please feel free to add a review of the book in the comment section.