Jazz Age Josephine
A picture book biography that will inspire readers to dance to their own beats!Singer, dancer, actress, and independent dame, Josephine Baker felt life was a performance. She lived by her own rules and helped to shake up the status quo with wild costumes and a you-can’t-tell-me-no attitude that...
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A picture book biography that will inspire readers to dance to their own beats!Singer, dancer, actress, and independent dame, Josephine Baker felt life was a performance. She lived by her own rules and helped to shake up the status quo with wild costumes and a you-can’t-tell-me-no attitude that made her famous. She even had a pet leopard in Paris!From bestselling children’s biographer Jonah Winter and two-time Caldecott Honoree Marjorie Priceman comes a story of a woman the stage could barely contain. Rising from a poor, segregated upbringing, Josephine Baker was able to break through racial barriers with her own sense of flair and astonishing dance abilities. She was a pillar of steel with a heart of gold—all wrapped up in feathers, sequins, and an infectious rhythm.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN:
9781416961239 (1416961232)
Publish date: January 3rd 2012
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Pages no: 40
Edition language: English
This book is about Josephine Baker pre-WWII, so the bit about her helping the French Resistance isn't here. Her cheetah is, however. Told in lyrics that read like jazz, the story of Baker's young life and start in stardom is related without fanfare, yet the racism that she faced is presented qu...
Priceman's illustrations keep dynamic pace with Winter's metered text. Text starts in an old-time blues rhyme (think Blind Willie McTell or Lead Belly) and then shifts cadence as Baker begins to experience the life she hoped for.
Lively, colorful introduction to this fascinating entertainer.