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Biography Book Review

Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney was a great biography to read and would work well for most elementary-aged students. This book combines the use of pictures on every single page while also providing the students with great information about Duke Ellington's musical career. The book attempts to connect with the audience by starting off with his childhood and what he liked to do. This will help engage the students and hopefully inspire them to be great like Duke Ellington. It also talks about Duke Ellington and how his parents wanted him to do certain things that he did not want to do; almost every child deals with this at some point so it should be relatable to the students. I believe that all of the students in the classroom even if they do not want to become musicians would enjoy this book because of the message that it is sending. There is also a magical feeling to the story; Andrea Pinkey wrote it in positive terms and is eager to share the positive outcomes even after sharing something that seemed negative. When having elementary students read biographies, it is usually a good idea for them to have positive attributes involved and not have bad endings. The point of teaching biographies is to inspire and motivate children in a positive manner. 


The book starts off with Duke Ellington as a child and when he started to get interested in the piano because that is what his parents wanted him to do. It then progresses through his teen years and into his adult years. It talks about how he fell in love with the piano and practiced a lot until he became the great musician that he is known as. Towards the end of the book, it talks about how Duke Ellington's music became very popular to people, and through his talents, he was able to make friends and inspire others. The message that this book sends is great for younger elementary students because it points out that having a passion and working hard toward your dreams is very important. This book goes into depths about how music changed Duke Ellington's life and had amazing pictures to go along with it. I would recommend this to almost any elementary-aged student to read or for any elementary school teacher to read aloud to the students. 


Source


ErikTheElectric. Duke Ellington Read Aloud. 2014. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4hSSu7ojh0.

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