Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Richly expressive paint and ink illustrations portray the hard-earned successes of Django Reinhardt, whose childhood was spent traveling with his impoverished gypsy family, where music was a constant and illuminating presence: “Music... sighing/ weeping singing/ laughing breathing/ reeling spinning.” Christensen’s soft, rhythmic prose echoes her evocative images as Django explores the music scene of 1920s Paris, before suffering serious burns on his hands and leg when his wagon catches fire. Despite his injuries, Reinhardt teaches himself to play again, his career “just beginning/ Bright and brilliant stages waiting.” A sensuous tribute to an illustrious musician. Ages 5–9. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Sept.)

School Library Journal Starred Review (Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

Gr 2-5 Christensen uses impressionistic oil paintings and lyrical text to introduce readers to Reinhardt in this appreciative tribute. Her subject's youth was marked by poverty; a spread depicts the Gypsy encampment where he was born, the gaily painted caravans in eerie contrast to their icy bleak surroundings. With a natural agility (he caught trout by hand), Reinhardt taught himself to play guitar and found escape. While still a boy, he began to make a living playing music on the streets of Paris and in jazz clubs; he was on the brink of success when a tragic fire left his hand so badly burned that doctors predicted he would never play again. In stark colors, Christensen conveys the hopelessness of the musician's situation, trapped in his iron-railed hospital bed. He refused to give up, though, and the next page finds him rapt, guitar clasped to his chest, eyes closed in the effort of drawing forth music again. Christensen completes the tale of the guitarist's success with an author's note, a brief paragraph on the Roma people, and a bibliography/discography. She includes enough detail to give perspective, but it is her lush paintings that so effectively give life to the man's effervescent charm and determined courage. This inspiring account of an individual overcoming tragedy and adversity should find a wide audience. Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA

Starred Review ALA Booklist (Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

Starred Review The story of Django Reinhardt is a natural for younger audiences like so many other jazz musicians whose troubled lives and complex music have become the stuff of picture books. In spare, simple, rhythmic verses, Christensen tells the remarkable story of a young Gypsy boy, born in Belgium in 1910, who was surrounded by music as a child, learning violin from his father and later moving on to guitar. After his father abandoned him, young Django found his way to Paris, where he played on street corners, earning praise ("Gypsy Genius!") and attracting attention. Soon he was headlining in clubs, but all seemed lost when he was burned in a fire, damaging his left hand so severely that playing the guitar seemed out of the question. But Django developed a way to work around his disability, and his self-made technique for playing chords proved perfect for the syncopated jazz style. Christensen supports the inspirational story with rich, vibrant paintings that capture the texture and tone of the landscapes in Django's life: burnt oranges and various shades of brown bring the Gypsy campfires to vivid life, while bright blues shimmering under the sharp yellows of stage footlights depict the electricity of the guitarist in performance. The art steals the show here, but the text works fine, too, describing the essence of Django's story without overwhelming middle-graders with too much detail.

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2010)

Dogs bark / Banjos talk / Dinners boil in black pots. Rhythmic, impressionistic text tells of Django Reinhardt, Belgium-born Roma musician who overcame a hardscrabble childhood and a hand injury to become the "world's greatest jazz guitarist." Christensen's atmospheric oil paintings are sketchlike, smoky, and unfinished at the edges--recalling jazz music itself. Additional biographical information concludes the book. Bib.

Kirkus Reviews

The brilliant jazz guitarist's life from birth in a Roma camp to stardom on a floodlit Paris stage,is sketched in free verse and vibrant oils. Occasionally ranging into trochaic tetrameter (think "Hiawatha") and arguably over-reliant on gerunds for punch, the author reduces biographical details to an essence that sometimes jars. "Still a boy he's playing dance halls. / Fingers flying down the fretboard. / Writing waltzes, making records, / Putting money on the table." The narrative finds its dramatic core in the fire that rages through Django's wagon, badly burning his hands. His long recuperation is depicted against grays that gradually brighten as he heals and adapts to playing without the use of two fingers on his left hand. Christensen excels as a colorist: The blue-violet light of a jazz club is offset by ochre horns and a pianist's green-gold sheath dress. Faces throughout seem curiously devoid of emotional depth; roughly sketched features result in sad or wry or neutral miens that contribute an air of detachment that color alone fails to redeem. Meritorious but ultimately disappointing. (author's notes, bibliography, discography) (Picture book/biography. 5-9)