Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix

Music is magic as Jimi Hendrix once said, and so is this book. Even the title is amazing, SOUNDS LIKE A RAINBOW. How brilliant is that? I love the image it evokes.

I have to be honest in saying that I am a huge Jimi Hendrix fan. I personally believe he was the greatest rock guitar player of all time and has influenced a countless number of 70s and 80s musicians. I also think music should be a major player in a childs development. To me, this book is a very important one, especially since music programs are often the first cut when it comes to reducing school budgets.

Now on to the book itself. I can not say enough about the words. They roll off the lips so easily when read aloud.

Notes spun from the strings, flickering in the air like fireflies. Im just going to let that speak for itself. I mean, what more can I say?

The text cover Jimis early childhood, covering the years in Jimis life paralleling the ages of the books typical audience. The book puts emphasis on Hendrixs early struggles like his worn-out clothes and the fact that he and his dad had to live in a boarding house, but all told in very appropriate language.

The art is just as amazing as the words themselves. The illustrator, Javaka Steptoe, certainly evokes a psychedelic mood. I was not alive to experience the Summer of Love in 1967, but with this book one can imagine what it might have felt like. If blown up to a giant size, nearly every page would make a nice addition to a young music lovers bedroom wall. I didnt know this until reading the book, but art was also a huge influence in Jimis life.

I guess I should find some fault with parts of the book, even though at the beginning I mentioned it would be an incredibly bias review. Two minor problems I had was that it did not hold the attention of my three and four year old. I think there were too many words on the page. The got fidgety towards the end. So this book would not be for the very young. Maybe more appropriate for six, seven, and eight year olds. The other minor problem was on some pages, the words were hard to read. They were printed white and were hard to read on the light background.

All in all a great book for older picture book readers.

As a teacher of eighth graders, I would also consider reading this aloud to my students. Lots of examples of the literary devices we cover in class like simile and metaphor, onomatopoeia and alliteration. I highly recommend JIMI: SOUNDS LIKE A RAINBOW by Gary Golio.