Just a Lucky So and So: the Story of Louis Armstrong by L. Cline-Ransome

Abstract

Cline-Ransome, Lesa. Just a Lucky So and So: the Story of Louis Armstrong. Holiday House, 2016.This is a children’s level biography of Louis Armstrong. It is a difficult book to rate. The watercolours are superb and rate 4 stars but the text is lacking and rates 2 stars. While it is clearly a picture book and meant for children, the text seems like it might have originally been written for adults and then modified a little for children. There are too many big words for a picture book and the story is choppy and sometimes too condensed to be understood. There are sometimes big gaps in the information. For example, at a New Year’s Eve celebration, “shots were fired… Little Louis joined in with his stepfather’s gun. All his scrapes with the law added up, and at eleven years, Little Louis was sent away." We are not told why Louis was arrested, while it appears that firing guns in celebration was a normal thing to do. At one point we learn that he had a second wife, but up to that point there is no mention of marriage at all. The writing does not flow and is not always easy to read.James Ransome’s images, however, are wonderful. In keeping with the theme of luck in the book, all of the people are happy and smiling. These are well-executed works of art. The picture of the cornet inside the front cover is beautiful. In the picture of Louis’s family when he was little, Ransome has perfectly captured the shape of a small kneeling boy with his head thrown back in laughter. The music message of this book is both historical and inspirational, showing that it doesn’t matter where you come from or how little you have, you can still do great things in music.Because there are relatively few biographical works of famous musicians, and elementary and junior high school students often have to make presentations on famous musicians, this book, in spite of its weaknesses should be in public and school libraries.Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Sean BorleSean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety.