Rock, Rosetta, rock! Roll, Rosetta, roll! : presenting sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of rock & roll / written by Tonya Bolden ; illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.

Cover image for Rock, Rosetta, rock! Roll, Rosetta, roll! : presenting sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of rock & roll / written by Tonya Bolden ; illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.

Title:

Roll, Rosetta, roll

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of rock & roll

Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of rock and roll

Author:

Bolden, Tonya,

Additional Author(s):

Christie, R. Gregory, 1971-

ISBN:

9780062994387

0062994387

Edition:

First edition.

Publication Info:

New York, N.Y. :

Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 29 cm

Summary:

"Award-winning author Tonya Bolden and acclaimed illustrator R. Gregory Christie deliver an inspiring true story about the life, career, and impact of 20th-century blues and gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who was a trailblazer for rock-and-roll. Includes a timeline of Sister Rosetta Tharpe's life, author's note, and a list of sources. Before there was Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Johnny Cash, there was Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The godmother of rock & roll started as a little girl from Arkansas with music in her air, in her hair, in her bones, wiggling her toes. With a big guitar in hand and a big voice in her soul, she grew into a rock & roll trailblazer in a time when women were rarely seen rocking out. Her guitar picking was like nobody else's!"--Publisher marketing.

Reading Level:

004-008.

Personal Subject:

Tharpe, Rosetta, 1915-1973-Biography-Juvenile literature.

Subject(s):

Blues musicians -- United States -- Biography -- Juvenile literature.

Gospel singers -- Juvenile literature.

Women singers -- Juvenile literature.

African American women musicians -- Juvenile literature.

African American women singers -- Juvenile literature.

African American women -- Arkansas -- Juvenile literature.

Rock music -- History -- Juvenile literature.

Holds: Copies (not including on-order items):

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Call Number	Shelf Location	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Fountain Library	Children's Book	782.254092 THAR	Children's-J-Biography	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable
Searching... Penrose Library	Children's Book	782.254092 THAR	Children's-J-Biography	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

"A profile as bold and vivacious as the singer herself." --Kirkus (starred review)

"Terrific for all collections that want to inspire the musically inclined and highlight innovative pioneers." --Booklist (starred review)

"Bolden uses alliteration, assonance, repetition, and rhythm to create an irresistibly musical text that effectively communicates the feel of Tharpe's music. Christie's lively illustrations. . . capture the physicality of Tharpe's performance style and the intensity of her sound." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Impressive offering about an often-overlooked figure in American music." --The Horn Book (starred review)

"The marriage of Bolden's words and Christie's pictures is almost as satisfying as Tharpe's songs." --New York Times Book Review

Perfect for fans of Trombone Shorty and Ada's Violin!

Award-winning author Tonya Bolden and acclaimed illustrator R. Gregory Christie deliver an inspiring true story about the life, career, and impact of 20th-century blues and gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who was a trailblazer for rock-and-roll. Includes a timeline of Sister Rosetta Tharpe's life, author's note, and a list of sources.

Before there was Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Johnny Cash, there was Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

The godmother of rock & roll started as a little girl from Arkansas with music in her air, in her hair, in her bones, wiggling her toes. With a big guitar in hand and a big voice in her soul, she grew into a rock & roll trailblazer in a time when women were rarely seen rocking out. Her guitar picking was like nobody else's!

Boogie along with this rockin' tribute to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Famer Sister Rosetta Tharpe by Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author Tonya Bolden and Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator R. Gregory Christie.

Author Notes

Tonya Bolden is the author of ten books, including "Strong Men Keep Coming", "The Family Heirloom Cookbook", & "33 Things Every Girl Should Know". She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 1--4--Rosetta Tharpe was an American singer and guitarist who rose up in gospel music and broke into the mainstream of American music in the 1930s and 1940s. She influenced many well-known musicians, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, and Aretha Franklin. Told in free verse, this picture book biography chronicles her life, from her upbringing in rural Cotton Plant, AK, to accompanying her preacher mother to Chicago, to making a life for herself in New York City. She sang in churches and nightclubs, including the Cotton Club and the Apollo in Harlem. Christie's vibrant illustrations bring the story to life with movement and punch, matching Tharpe's personality. A time line in the back matter further fleshes out her personal life and career. VERDICT A fresh and female addition to the music legend canon, just in time for Black History Month displays. Purchase where picture book biographies, especially those about musicians/rock history, circulate well.--Jennifer Noonan

Publisher's Weekly Review

Music reverberates throughout this striking biographical tribute to rock and roll trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915--1973). Starting as a "pint-size sensation in tiny/ Cotton Plant, Arkansas," Tharpe is known for having "music in your air,/ in your hair,/ in your bones,/ wiggling your toes." Traveling to Chicago with her mother, she accompanies Mama's preaching in churches, at revivals, and on street corners, until, "all grown," she "gifted Gospel music big-time/ to people all over the place," interweaving the form with "cousin Boogie-Woogie,/ Cousin Jazz,/ Cousin Swing,/ Cousin the big, bad Blues." As she performs the world over, her style introduces a sound that saw "lots of younger cats--some future legends--/ ... Diggin' your licks./ Coppin' your style." Bolden uses alliteration, assonance, repetition, and rhythm to create an irresistibly musical text that effectively communicates the feel of Tharpe's music. Christie's lively illustrations render elongated forms with exaggerated expressions against color-block backgrounds, capturing the physicality of Tharpe's performance style and the intensity of her sound. A timeline and author's note follow. Ages 4--8. (Feb.)

Booklist Review

A little girl, a big instrument, and plenty of determination as she grows to meet musical challenges are portrayed through a stellar combination of foot-stomping prose and bold illustrations in this picture-book biography of rock-and-roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Depicting the icon in dresses of pastels and lace, puffy shouldered, with her guitar's round contours set against backgrounds of rounded arcades and scallops, Coretta Scott King Honoree Gregory visually emphasizes the fact that Tharpe's accomplishments were as a female forebear to a musical genre typically associated with men. Yet this child growing up in the early part of the twentieth century with "Music in your air, / in your hair, / in your bones . . ." emerged as an inspiration to some of the most iconic early rock sensations--Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Elvis, Johnny Cash. Bolden keeps the music foremost in readers' minds as she tracks Tharpe's life spent singing in fields, churches, and concert halls, a chorus of "Rock, Rosetta, rock! Roll, Rosetta, roll!" following her. A time line and author's notes fill out the story for curious and inspired older readers, who might even be driven to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, where Tharpe is enshrined as an "Early Influence." Terrific for all collections that want to encourage the musically inclined and highlight innovative pioneers.