Blues Journey

The blues aren't all sad. There's joy in the blues as well as heartbreak. Love discovered. Love lost. Love just around the corner.

In this beautiful tribute to the poetry and art of the blues, renowned author Walter Dean Myers collaborates with his son, award-winning illustrator Christopher Myers, in a true masterpiece of picture book creation filled with struggle, grief, hope, joy, and love.

Each original blues-style verse on a page calls out a response from the artist in striking tones of brown, black, white, and blue. Together, father and son weave an enchanting story of the creation of the blues through the experiences of African Americans from the end of slavery through the beginning of the civil rights movement.

This book is for older children who love music and their parents who will appreciate the layered sophistication of the striking artwork and interplay between art and text.

Includes an author's note explaining the birth and development of the blues, a timeline of blues milestones, and an explanatory glossary of terms in the blues. Together this content deepens the appreciation for the blues as a truly original art form.

A Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor book
An ALA Notable book
Horn Book Fanfare Selection
Kirkus Reviews Editor's Choice
New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
A Children's Book of the Year, Child Study Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College

Author: Walter Dean Myers
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 03/01/2003
Pages: 48
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.93lbs
Size: 8.78h x 11.24w x 0.38d
ISBN: 9780823416134
Audience: Ages 4-8

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Lower Grade
Quiz #/Name: 67817 / Blues Journey


Award: Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards - Honor Book


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Review - Children 02/15/2003 pg. 313
Booklist 02/15/2003 pg. 1082
Publishers Weekly 03/03/2003 pg. 74
Voice of Youth Advocates 04/01/2003 pg. 73
School Library Journal 04/01/2003 pg. 188
Horn Book Magazine 05/01/2003 pg. 363
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 06/01/2003 pg. 415
New York Times 08/10/2003 pg. 18
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2003 pg. 456 - Outstanding, Noteworthy In Style
Booklist 11/01/2003 pg. 512
Kirkus Review - Children 12/01/2003 pg. 1404
Booklist 02/15/2004 pg. 1073
ALA Notable Children's Books 03/15/2004 pg. 1291
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2003 pg. 456 - Outstanding, Noteworthy In Style
School Library Journal 10/01/2004
School Library Journal 04/01/2005 pg. 57

About the Author
Walter Dean Myers (1937-2014) was one of the premier authors of books for children, and received numerous awards including a Newbery Honor, recognition as the National Ambassador for Young People's literature, and the first-ever Michael L. Printz award, a Coretta Scott King honor, and a National Book Award finalist for his novel Monster. He collaborated with Christopher Myers on Jazz (a Coretta Scott King Honor book) and wrote Here in Harlem.

Christopher Myers is a writer and fine artist, but he is best known for his award-winning picture books, including the Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Honor book Harlem, written by his father, and his own Black Cat and H.O.R.S.E, both of which received Coretta Scott King Honor Awards. He lives and works in New York City.