Django

Young Django lived with his parents and Grandma Thelma in the cypress swamps of Florida, where he grew up surrounded by a symphony of different sounds. Given his grandfather's fiddle, he made music that spoke to the animals, and brought them to his side. When his inattention to his chores led his parents and grandmother to put the fiddle away, it seemed his music was at an end. Then a terrible hurricane struck, and Django used his music to guide the local animals to safety around their home, located on a local hill...

Django is the third picture book I have read from author John Cech, a professor of English and Children's Literature at the University of Florida in Gainesville, following upon his Aesop's Fables and The Twelve Dancing show more Princesses. It also the one I have enjoyed most, both because of his story, and because of the accompanying folk-art illustrations of Florida artist Sharon McGinley-Nally. Apparently the tale presented here is a loose adaptation of a Florida legend concerning the folk musician and fiddler, Cush Holston**, who was said to play with such beauty that the animals would gather round him. As someone who is intrigued by the idea of using music to communicate with animals—I have enjoyed numerous online videos featuring the reaction of various animals when music is played to them—I was charmed by the idea of Django's fiddle-playing leading the wildlife to safety. I also was quite impressed by McGinley-Nally's artwork, created in vivid hues using liquid watercolors on paper first treated with a mixture of malt, chicory, rye, figs and beet root. The results is a series of paintings that are both interesting and beautiful. I loved the use of color, the human and animal figures, the decorative borders around many of the scenes, and the fact that the pages themselves are a lovely sepia tone. Although I enjoyed the previous books I have read from Cech, I wasn't deeply impressed by them, as I was by this one. I will definitely be seeking out more of his work (as well as other works of Florida folklore), and will certainly try to track more of McGinley-Nally's work as well. Recommended to young folklore enthusiasts, as well as to children taking up a musical instrument.

**Cush Holston doesn't appear to have every recorded any albums, but he did perform at the Florida Folk Festival in the early years, and there are some recordings of his performances there, that readers interested in his music can listen to, both on Youtube and on the Slippery Hill website, devoted to old-time fiddle and banjo recordings. show less