This Jazz Man

Setting her ode to nine jazz giants to the rhythm of "This Old Man," newcomer Ehrhardt playfully substitutes the onomatopoeic sounds of their instruments (or Bill "Bojangles" Robinson's tapping feet) for the standard "knick knack paddy-whack" refrain. Drummer Art "Bu" Blakey, for example, is the jazz man who plays six: "He plays solos with his sticks,/ With a bomp-bomp! Bubbuda-bomp! / Give the man a hand,/ This jazz man beats with the band." In each energized mixed-media spread, Roth, also making his children's book debut, features a figure—Dizzy, Bird and Satchmo among them—in dapper mismatched clothing, swinging against white backgrounds bordered in cheerful stripes styled like awnings and bandstands. Roth's painted display type cavorts across the spreads, extending each verse's third line with more syncopated syllables. Performers are not identified until the endnotes, which pair brief bios with spot illustrations. Other jazz-themed children's books go into more detail, but the candy-colored collages burst from the pages, making this addition just right as an uptempo introduction for youngest music lovers. Ages 3-7. (Nov.)