It wasn't soft/It wasn't black/It wasn't sweet/It wasn't white/It was swing. Brought together by the love of playing jazz music, Teddy Wilson and Benny Goodman broke the color barrier in entertainment when they formed the Benny Goodman Trio with Gene Krupa. This lush and lyrical picture book tells the story of how two musical prodigies from very different backgrounds - one a young black boy growing up in Tuskegee, Alabama, the other the son of struggling Russian-Jewish immigrants from the West Side of Chicago - were brought together by their love of music, and helped create the jazz style known as swing.
"The true story of jazz musicians Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson is told in deep blues and gold with splashes of red throughout. The lyrical prose infuses the book with the spirit of jazz... The biographical back matter will give readers more insight into all of the musicians mentioned and shed light on how a love of music helped the two break down color lines."
School Library Journal
"Ransome's line-and-watercolor pictures also flow with movement and color. Kids drawn in by the story of the young artists will go on to ponder the history."
