Mysterious Thelonious

Chris Raschka is the absolute master of high-concept. His abstract conceptions would seema perfect match for the perfect dissonance of Thenonious Monk, another artist who mastered the abstract and the unconventional...who merged sound and sight in his own iconoclastic fashion. One of Monk's first albums is "Brilliant Corners," and you can hear those cuts and angles throughout. Raschka is brilliant in his imaginative construction of this CD/book combination, but the dilemma is whether this is a book for kids or adults. It's so mathematical, richly visual, and simultaneously linear and non-linear that it's a challenging read at almost every age. Here's the concept: Arrange adjoining squares that cover the page from toip to bottom, and left to right...like a checkerboard. IN the vertical dimension (i.e., down the page from top to bottom) the boxes represent the eight descending notes (do, re, me, anyone?) of the Western scale, and scanning from left to right is how we read both books and music. Raschka made up a very Monkian (to my mind) lyric to the tune "Mysterioso," and places each word in a square that follows the music, both vertically (do, re, mi), and horizontally--following the melody of the song. As they say, it's easy once you learn it. FOrtunately, Mr. Raschka is a kind teacher, and he includes the singing of his lyric on the CD. ONe follows the song, matching the words and their high/low sound to the words spread higher and low, left to right, on the page. The first track is done very slowly, mkaing it fairly easy to follow (after a few tries); the second time matches the actual tempo of the "Mysterioso" excerpt. Raschka also includes some introductory personal observations about jazz, and then wraps it up with a full live recording of Monk in the late 50's. If you don't like Monk, you;'re not going to like this book. But, let's say you do like Monk...or perhaps you've never heard of him but you're an adventurous soul. I think you'er going to love this book, and especially the music, if you have an open mind, have liked some very original music in the past, and love modern art. That's if you;re an adult, reading to yourself. If you're reading to a kid, I have a few suggestions to maximize their comprehension, and, more importantly, their enjoyment. I hope I don't sound patronizing; I know that YOU know your child and I don't--but take five and see what you thinik. If you love this book, but think your age 3 to 11 (approximately) audience won't understand it, at least communicate your enthusiasm. Attitude over content! Perhpas if the child is a little older, or has some real proclivities towards abstract thinking, patiently, slowly, show how Raschka has matched words to music in two dimensions. If the child is younger, perhaps point out the little pictures of Monk and other squaranalia placed on the page, enjoy the colors, sing along with the record, make your own pattern of colored squares, and just...as they say...IMPRO

One wouldn't think it possible, but Raschka has recreated Monk's "Misterioso" into a beautiful synthesis of color and word by matching the 12 musical notes of the chromatic scale to the 12 values of the color wheel, and repeating word phrases with slight variations, as with Monk's playing.

The author/illustrator has found a clever way to combine the illustration and text, as if to portray the sound of Thelonious Monk's music. I read this to a third grade music class. The students commented that the words were placed on the page like notes on a music staff. They also noticed that the size of the words changed throughout the book, perhaps suggesting the dynamics in his music. Although the book doesn't share specific factual information about Thelonious Monk, it is fun to read. I would recommend it for all students and music lovers alike. As a music teacher, I really enjoyed this book!

As summarized above, this is one of the most amazing books I've ever read. By no means is it "just for kids"--this book is revolutionary, in the same way and to the same degree that "Ulysses" was. Highest praise possible.

There is nothing Misterioso about Chris Raschka's story about Thelonious Monk, Mysterious Thelonious. Just as there were "no wrong notes on Monk's piano, there are no wrong words in this marvelously creative book by Chris Raschka. Inspiried by the first jazzman to cultivate a goatee and by Monk's composition, 'Misterioso', Raschka has approached this picture-book from a right angle, similar to how Monk titled his head as he 'crushed' out his muisc on the piano. Words, music, and color run up-and-down the pages like Monk's enormous hands, hitting al 12 keys at once. Young readers will enjoy the challenge of trying to decode the phonetic-like presentation of words that reverberate page-by-page across colorful grids reminiscent of a Paul Klee drawing. Seasoned jazz lovers (like me) will marvel at how Raschka has caught the musical magic of Thelonious Sphere Monk as he might have 'sounded with words and a brush' jamming with Charlie (Yardbird) Parker at Minton's Playhouse (New York) in 1937. I have used this book many times to show teachers the power of interactive read-alouds to create higher levels of understanding. With black shades on and Monk's music playing in the background, children delight in a unique demonstration of how language, art, color, and hyphenated text work together to tell a wonderful story about the music of freedom....Jazz. Tr- ue to h- is rep- u- tation, Ra- sch- ka u- ses o- nly a fe- w w- ords, b- ut s- ays a lo- t!