Uptown Author: Collier, Bryan | ||
Price: $16.84 |
Summary:
A tour of the sights of Harlem, including the Metro-North train, brownstones, shopping on 125th Street, a barbershop, summer basketball, the Harlem Boys Choir, and sunset over the Hudson River.
Audio Prevew:
Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: LG Reading Level: 2.80 Points: .5 Quiz: 44437 | Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: K-2 Reading Level: 2.70 Points: 1.0 Quiz: 22153 | |
Awards:
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, 2001
Common Core Standards
Grade K → Reading → RL Literature → K.RL Key Ideas & Details
Grade K → Reading → RL Literature → K.RL Craft & Structure
Grade K → Reading → RL Literature → K.RL Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Grade 1 → Reading → RL Reading Literature → 1.RL Key Ideas & Details
Grade 1 → Reading → RL Reading Literature → 1.RL Craft & Structure
Grade 1 → Reading → RL Reading Literature → 1.RL Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Grade 1 → Reading → RL Reading Literature → 1.RL Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Grade 2 → Reading → RL Reading Literature → 2.RL Key Ideas & Details
Grade 2 → Reading → RL Reading Literature → 2.RL Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Grade 2 → Reading → CCR College & Career Readiness Anchor Standards fo
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (06/01)
School Library Journal (+) (07/00)
Booklist (06/01)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (11/00)
Full Text Reviews:
Bulletin for the Center... - 11/01/2000 Uptown is New York City’s Harlem, seen through the loving eyes of the young African-American narrator. The boy’s declarations ring out: “Uptown is chicken and waffles served around the clock. At first it seems like a weird combination, but it works. . . . Uptown is weekend shopping on 125th Street. The vibe is always jumping as people bounce to their own rhythms.” The boy shows off the highlights of his neighborhood from the Apollo Theater to a barbershop, from a Van Der Zee photograph to a basketball game. Collier’s loose, informal text wanders through watercolor and collage illustrations, the letters changing color and size to suit the backdrop. The combination of photo-collage and painted images is eerily realistic, resulting in an energetic effect that augments the often subtle palette. The people’s faces are a soft counter to the architectural solidity of porches and buildings, and the compositions are imaginative and varied (the jazz spread is particularly compelling). While the rambling text is a bit obvious, the illustrations are intricately constructed and effectively composed. Aimed at a younger audience than Myers’ Harlem (BCCB 3/97), this is a visual love song that makes it easy to see why the narrator loves it uptown. - Copyright 2000 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.
Booklist - 06/01/2000 Like the Myers' Caldecott Honor Book Harlem (1997), Collier's Uptown depicts scenes of Harlem life in lavish collages: a row of brownstones, shopping on 125th Street, the Apollo Theater, a jazz club, a barber shop, and more. But this time the text is accessible to a younger audience, and the voice belongs to a young boy instead of a literary adult. Each page begins with an observation--for example, Uptown is a caterpillar,--that is followed by a few lines expanding the idea-- Well, it's really the Metro-North train as it eases over the Harlem River. At times, the boy's voice is too sophisticated (Uptown is a Van Der Zee photograph), and there's little story, even though the book is classified as fiction. It's the artwork that takes center stage, the gorgeous, textured collages giving impressions of spaces and moments in the boy's neighborhood. Suggest this to elementary-school teachers in lower grades who are looking for new materials about place and home. (Reviewed June 1 & 15, 2000) - Copyright 2000 Booklist.