Brother Billy Bronto'S Bygone Blues Band

Brother Billy Bronto'S Bygone Blues Band

Brother Billy's dinosaur band is en route to a booking when their train meets with a mishap in the bayou, where thereafter rests the blues in a pool of oozeFrom Publishers WeeklyThis delicious Bayou-style ghost story reflects the style of a hip Robert Service. Birchman tells the tale of Billy Bronto's blues band, whose ghosts can still be heard at night in the Louisiana swamp. Lilting, bluesy rhythms and repeated refrains recount how the dinosaur combo sets New Orleans jumping, goes on tour and eventually meets its demise. This singular verbiage begs to be read aloud--"An iguanodon with some dark shades on / tickled the teeth of a rumply keyboard / while a lonely clarinet blew a wild set / 'round a too-cool-hot-blues chord." Although Birchman occasionally strains for a rhyme, the seductive text with its jazz-style language redolent of the Bayou pulls readers into the story and holds them there. But though the narrative is upbeat, its ghostly ending may disturb some younger listeners. With distinctive crosshatching, O'Brien's ( What His Father Did ) stylish watercolors, in predominantly cool tones of aqua and violet, are perfectly paired with the exceptionally evocative text, as the dinosaurs blow their horns, thump their tails and rise from their final resting place to serenade the night. Ages 5-up.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.From School Library JournalKindergarten-Grade 3-- A Louisiana bayou blues story, cast with dinosaurs. Birchman's text is rich, thick with alliteration and expressive word choices; unfortunately, although clever, the complicated rhyme and beat do not always gel. Billy Bronto starts a band; he's on bass, Rex the King Tyrone is on slide trombone, the allosaurus Lizard Lips Grace is on the sax, and others play piano and clarinet. After a train accident at the Black Bayou Pond, the ghosts of the band play down in the swamp, their sounds bubbling up in a pool of ooze. Comic paintings in watercolor and black pen give lots of character to the musicians. Their formal suits, hats, and sunglasses vibrate with color and action. Humor and fun show up in the pictures, e.g., the locomotive's smoke is filled with musical notes. Van Laan's Possum Come a Knockin' (Knopf, 1990) and Mahy's 17 Kings and 42 Elephants (Dial, 1987) tell stories in rhyme with greater flow, but Brother Billy Bronto runs an admirably close second. --Jacqueline Elsner, Athens Regional Library, GACopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.From Kirkus ReviewsIn a cadenced narrative dancing with wordplay, Birchman describes a hot band that includes ``Rex the King Tyrone on the slide trombone...a mean allosaurus saxophonist nicknamed Lizard Lips Grace...[and] the heart of the band...Brother Billy Bronto. Thumping down on the big bass with the rings on his claws all flashing bright.'' The popular band tours by train; but, alas, a bridge collapses and the band's bones end ``deep dark down in that bayou'' and ``there rests the blues in a pool of ooze with the ghosts of the bygone-bye.'' The catchy lilt here is much in the spirit of Joyce Maxner's Nicholas Cricket (1989), with the dinosaurs as an added attraction. New Yorker cartoonist O'Brien makes another entertaining contribution to the children's book world with his humorously detailed, curled, and crosshatched drawings touched with cheery color; his crowds of busy dinosaurs are wonderfully animated and appealing. Good fun. (Picture book. 5-10) --Copyright