Jimi: Sounds Like A Rainbow

Jimi: Sounds Like A Rainbow

Jimi: Sounds Like A Rainbow

Written by: Gary Golio

Illustrated by: Javaka Steptoe

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2010

29 pages

Nonfiction

Jimi was at home one day listening to a storm outside. He grabbed a one string ukulele and started plucking it until it sounded like raindrops. When the storm ended he went outside and listened to all the sounds of the city and they sounded like music. Music made colors in his head and he wanted to paint the world with the colors of music. Jimi bought a wooden guitar from his land lord’s son and taught himself to play the guitar. He practiced every day and then he joined a band. His old guitar was drowned out by all the other instruments so his dad got him an electric guitar with an amp, even though money was tight. Jimi noticed he could make a bunch of different sounds with the electric guitar. He could make it laugh, cry, sing, and scream. He went on to play for people all over the world dressed in the colors of the rainbow because that is how he saw the music.

The illustrations in this book were done using mixed media. Javaka Steptoe used bright colors like red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple in the illustrations. I like how the colors of the rainbow were incorporated. I also like the way Jimi is painted one way and his surroundings another way.

This will be a good book to use in the classroom when we are studying music or historical people. There is a two page spread at the end of the book telling more about the life of Jimi Hendrix and an author’s note talking about prescription drug abuse and alcohol abuse. There are also some websites and books for further research.

Jimi: Sounds Like A Rainbow won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award.