Eric Morse

Did you grow up listening to Punk music and wish to share it with your kids or reminisce about it? "What Is Punk" covers the rise of the Punk movement, the various bands associated with it, and its fashion. Experience this book in all its glory as you learn all about the Ramones to The Slits to the Descendents in a fun story that rhymes and is illustrated in...wait for it...3-D clay! The illustrations are a wonderful and somehow perfect representation of what Punk is. I was maybe more excited to read this book myself that I was to read to my daughter. The book definitely leaves music in your head and your foot tapping to the beat. I recommend this book to adults and kids alike!

Ashley C. / Marathon County Public Library
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One of Black Sheep/Akashic Books newest releases is WHAT IS HIP-HOP? by Eric Morse. Art is by Anny Yi and the book is ‘produced’ by Nelson George.
I acquired this ‘Advance Reading Copy’ from Akashic Books in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.
The book jacket tells me it is a “playful, guided tour of one of the most revolutionary pop culture movements of the twentieth century: hip-hop.” The book is a follow-up to the title, WHAT IS PUNK?
This is a hard-cover, children’s picture book with gorgeous clay figure illustrations. Anny Yi is “an artist who makes clay-art dioramas and non-stop motion films inspired by fashion and music.” She is extremely talented. The clay figures are very life-like; very realistic. How does she ‘dress’ them? and make them break-dance?
The book is in verse: “In the beginning, there was a beat. Two records spinning, and the crowd got on its feet.” The ‘story line’ is very fast-paced, with Dr. Seuss-like rhyming and lots of information. It is a simplistic biography of such hip-hop artists as LL Cool J, Salt-N-Pepa and Jay Z.
The book was gorgeously put together. The illustrations really fit with the verse.
The verse was fast, snappy and easy to read. It had quite a beat of its own.
I really liked the book because I learned something from it. Me, who knows absolutely nothing about hip-hop, can now rattle off names like RUN-DMC and Missy Elliott.
“But hip-hop remains, deep down at its heart, a unique expression, an urban form of art.”… (more)

What Is Punk? is a children's picture book written in verse by Eric Morse and illustrated with clay figures by Anny Yi. It gives a quick history fo punk music and its offshoot subgenres, as well as what punk culture is and who were the most important performers of the scene.

I admit, as someone who knows very little about music and music history, I was hoping to learn about punk. However, with Morse obviously a punk aficionado, there is only so much that can be covered in a picture book format, not to mention the limitations from writing in rhyming verse. Despite my expectations, this is a charming book, and Morse has done great with expressing his love of punk.

Anny Yi's clay art is fantastic, as well. Illustrating with photographed three-dimensional figures, dolls, and dioramas in picture books is vastly underutilized today, so it was refreshing to see Yi's quirky and expressive use of the art form.

In all, What Is Punk? may not be the first place to learn about punk, bt it is a perfectly charming celebration of the music and lifestyle.… (more)