Shake, Rattle and Roll: The Founders of Rock and Roll - Hardcover

Holly George-Warren has contributed to more than two dozen books about rock and roll, including The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock, and The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll. She's also written for the New York Times, the Village Voice, the Journal of Country Music, and Rolling Stone. Shake, Rattle and Roll is her first book for children. Ms. George-Warren lives in New York City.

Laura Levine's colorful and award-winning illustrations have been widely exhibited and have appeared in numerous magazines and books and on CD covers. Her rock and roll paintings hang in the collections of the House of Blues and the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. Her first children's book, Wig!, was a collaboration with the B-52s. Ms. Levine lives in New York City.

In this sanitized compendium of 1950s rock stars, debut children's book writer George-Warren and Levine (Wig!) set themselves the task of translating music and personality to the page. Each spread features a capsule biography of a musician next to his or her portrait, painted on Masonite in an American primitive style and set in a found-object frame. Bill Haley comes first, along with his trademark "one, two, three o'clock, four o'clock ROCK" and a night sky full of "comets"; unfortunately, the writing is straight out of squaresville ("Although Bill Haley was a grownup, he sang about things teens liked and he spoke their language"). Little Richard appears against a glaring yellow background, and the text, which ripples out like sound waves from his portrait, trumpets his signature shriek: "A wop bop a loo bop a wop bam boom, tutti frutti, oh rooti!" Yet these immortal lyrics aren't as punchy in print, despite George-Warren's encouraging remark, "Wow, what a song!" Only a recap of Bo Diddley's signature beat ("Thump-a-thump-a-thump, a-thump-thump") suggests rock's catchy rhythms. The accounts politely bypass legend-making stories of Elvis's pelvis and Jerry Lee Lewis's scandalous marriage and only hint at rock's notorious racism and sexism; the volume cheers pivotal African-American artists like Chuck Berry and James Brown, but lets R&B singer LaVern Baker and rockabilly star Wanda Jackson represent all women rockers. Although oldies fans can appreciate Levine's homemade images, the set of icons resembles a quaint (and quiet) butterfly collection. This tame encyclopedia doesn't have much soul, and the uninitiated may wonder what all the fuss was about. Ages 8-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.