Welcome to Jazz: A Swing-Along Celebration of America’s Music, Featuring “When the Saints Go Marching In”

In this interactive volume, readers meet three cool cats (literal felines) at a jazz club, where one explains the art form to the others. This setup allows Sloan to offer a relatively comprehensive introduction to jazz, from its origins as “an African American art form” to its signature sounds, toggling between the cats’ dialogue and text-block explanations. A push-button side panel with 12 musical features plays instrument sounds (trumpet, double bass) as well as stylistic elements (scatting, improvisation), and each is called out in the text. Gibson’s swooping, stylized forms have a retro-mod flair, showing black and brown musicians performing for the trio of wide-eyed cats. Supplemental material delves deeper into jazz’s roots: “Out of terrible hardship and the unjust cruelty of slavery came beauty and innovation in the form of a new kind of music and the brilliant musicians who played it.” Ages 4–8. [em](Oct.) [/em]