Cesar Mendoza - The Old Cotton Blues

The Old Cotton Blues, written by Linda England and illustrated by Teresa Flavin, is a book about a boy named Dexter. Dexter really loves three things in his life, but one day he encounters what would become another love; music. Unfortunately for Dexter, he listens to a man play the clarinet and when he asks his mom to play clarinet, she says that they don't have the money for it. A lesson that can be taught to kids during this book is that overcoming adversity is possible and that if you want to play music, you do not need an expensive instrument. The man that plays clarinet gifts Dexter a harmonica. Very soon after Dexter begins to make music and realizes a young dream of his. Exposing students to this literature before a band instrument showing in 5th or 6th grade is good. The illustrations and great and the prose has a good beat to it. Given the sentence structure and length, I would explore the option of assigning this book in a late elementary classroom.