.... AWARDS
The 1993 Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Award
the PEN West Children’s Literature Award
Society of Children’s Book Writers’ Golden Kite Honor Award
Nonfiction Award from the Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People
An ALA Notable Book
IRA Teacher’s Choice
Chicago Sun-Times’ “Best 100 Books of the Century”REVIEWS
“Unstuffs a host of shirts and delivers wonderful musical trivia.”
--Newsweek“Successfully humanizes 20 important figures through Ms. Krull’s bright thumbnail sketches and the illustrator Kathryn Hewitt’s droll accompanying caricatures.”
--The New York Times Book Review“Thoroughly enjoyable.”
-- Horn Book“In this enthralling work, Krull dishes 20 of the movers and shakers in musical history.... Readers who thrive on offbeat information will be delighted by the splendid array of fun facts lurking in these informative and accurate snapshot biographies. Krull masterfully distills the essence of each musician’s life into snappy prose, an attitude echoed in the book’s lively, playful design.... Even those only remotely interested in music will be hooked by these living, breathing anecdotes—the stuff of which the best biography is made.”
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Bravo! A collective biography that is informative and fun to read.... Gossipy, nitty-gritty personal habits and quirks are presented, along with a sense of appreciation for the musicians’ lives and times.... The book has a helpful list of musical terms, an index, and an excellent bibliography. It belongs in every library and on every music teacher’s desk.”
---School Library Journal (starred review)“In a radical departure from most collective biographies written for children, this book is never dull.... The book makes its statement with style.... This unique volume represents a welcome departure from the cold, idealized, ‘marble bust’ approach to children’s biographies of musicians.”
--Booklist (starred review)“Just glance at Kathryn Hewitt’s caricatures or read one fascinating or funny true story from this collection, and you’ll continue reading.... Filled with little-known facts, humorous accounts, and amazing musical trivia, this is a compendium ‘composed’ for all of us!”
--American Bookseller (“Pick of the Lists”)“Young music students will find the humorous slant a greater equalizer between themselves and the masters.”
-- Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
