"Lookin' for Bird in the Big City" is a fictionalized version of a true story describing how a teenage music student travels to New York City in search of a musician named "Bird" in hopes that he will take him under his wing and mentor him. Even though his search seems fruitless, eventually time and a love of jazz connect these two musicians. In this book about chasing dreams, readers get to experience the power of loving music and not giving up. ( )

This is the story of Miles Davis, a famous American jazz musician, coming to New York and learning to play jazz from a famous saxophone player. Throughout the city, Miles hears the notes of jazz music as he searches for Bird. Miles finally finds Bird and he plays his trumpet for him. The text of the book includes words that when read sound like jazz music. This helps to enhance the story and make the book livelier and more enjoyable to read. Many of the people in New York didn’t know who Bird was because he was African American, but this did not mean he wasn’t successful. ( )

Overall, I liked this book. I felt as though I could personally connect with it because it related to music and I love music. I really liked the illustrations in this book and the use of onomatopoeia. The author used certain sounds that a trumpet would make and wrote them in different spots all over the pages. I think that children would really like this. Throughout the whole book, the main character was looking for “bird” and in the corner of most pages, there was a mysterious looking man who was also carrying an instrument. At the end of the book, it was revealed that this man was, in fact, “bird.” I don’t like this. I think that children like books with animals and that they would have been confused at the end of this book when there was not a bird. I also think that children might have a hard time following this book and they might not feel able to relate because they are not old enough to really appreciate the music. The general theme of this book is perseverance. The whole book was the main character trying to find his idol but he couldn’t find him but, he kept trying and eventually found him at the end of the book. ( )

This was a tremendous book, though not a subject that I'm normally interested in. I really enjoyed this book. The illustrations, the sparing descriptions, and the general cadence all lend to a strong retelling of an atypical story about two jazz greats and the journey that one of them took to bring them together. ( )

The story in this book is fictional, an account of what *might* have happened when Miles Davis came to the city to find his idol, Charlie Parker.

The language is smooth and colloquial, with interspersions of jazz-like syllables. The pictures are done in a just-active-enough watercolor that suits the story perfectly.

Alas... my nieces aren't such a fan as I am, which is why I took a star off. Still, it's a good book :) ( )