Overview
Poor Lee! He used to be a jazzman who could make the piano go yimbatimba- TANG—zang-zang. But now he's lost his hearing, and the bandleader had to let him go.
So Lee goes to a school for the deaf to learn sign language. There, he meets Max, who used to play the sax. Riding the subway to class, they start signing about all the songs they love. A bass player named Rose joins in and soon they've got a little sign language band. And in no time they're performing for audiences in the subway, night after night.
Living legend and Kennedy Center honoree Pete Seeger, renowned poet Paul DuBois Jacobs, and Coretta Scott King honor winner R. Gregory Christie present a jazzy riff on the power of music, overcoming obstacles, and all the different ways to hear the world. So, who will listen to a deaf musician? Everyone!
Synopsis
Poor Lee! He used to be a jazzman who could make the piano go yimbatimba- TANG--zang-zang. But now he's lost his hearing, and the bandleader had to let him go.
So Lee goes to a school for the deaf to learn sign language. There, he meets Max, who used to play the sax. Riding the subway to class, they start signing about all the songs they love. A bass player named Rose joins in and soon they've got a little sign language band. And in no time they're performing for audiences in the subway, night after night.
Living legend and Kennedy Center honoree Pete Seeger, renowned poet Paul DuBois Jacobs, and Coretta Scott King honor winner R. Gregory Christie present a jazzy riff on the power of music, overcoming obstacles, and all the different ways to hear the world. So, who will listen to a deaf musician? Everyone!
About the Author: Pete Seeger lives in Beacon, New York. Paul DuBois Jacobs and R. Gregory Christie both live Brooklyn, New York.
Children's Literature
Lee loses his hearing and, therefore, loses his job playing piano in a band, but Lee meets Max, who is also deaf and plays the sax. Together they play music with their hands as they ride the subway. A woman sees them and joins in by playing an upright bass. The three deaf people recruit an interpreter to be their singer and people on the subway start to watch and move in rhythm. Regardless of the medium, whether deaf or hearing, on key or off, Pete Seeger, who often performed while interpreters signed his songs, said that "The real music is in people joining together." He loved to hear people sing along during his concerts. The story is a lesson in acceptance and joy and working together. It is also about pursuing your dreams regardless of what other people think. The story could start a unit on deafness, sign language, coping with life changes, and communicating through the universal language of music.