Mama Mable's All-Gal Big Band Jazz Extravaganza!

August 5, 2019
This tribute to the all-female swing bands of the WWII era traces their genesis to the absence of male musicians (“All the men had gone to war”) and the need for the restorative power of music (“So Mama Mable formed her band/ to cheer up this good nation”). While Sieg, making her picture book debut, models the performers on contemporary swing bands such as the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, she doesn’t aim at biography. Instead, the book underscores the excitement of swing music played by diverse female ensembles. The musicians include a black trumpeter in a hot pink playsuit—endpaper silhouettes suggest she’s based on Valaida Snow—and a saxophonist with long black hair likely inspired by Willie Mae Wong. In vibrant mixed-media art, the narrative follows a child in a red dress through inclusive spreads of women working and attending the band’s concert. When the girl is reticent to bid the musicians farewell, a supportive word from Mama Mable underlines their inherent sisterhood. A toe-tapping readaloud, a joyful vision of women in community, and a stepping stone to a discussion of music as a social enterprise. Ages 4–8.

August 15, 2019
A look at music and feminism during the 1940s. Research reveals that African American women made strides in entering the workforce during World War II, yet they suffered both racial and gender discrimination, funneling them into menial jobs. In this story set during the Great Migration, Sieg introduces female musicians of color who seem to be exceptions to this. The titular Mama Mable is a black bandleader who gathers "girls from near and far-- / the bold, the bright, the brilliant" to make music. A little white girl narrates how they come to her community and spend a night playing music that would change the lives of all the women worrying about their menfolk and taking care of business in their absence. This rhyming picture book seems to be trying to show sisterhood through music and its power to cross barriers and heal a community. However, the juxtaposition of large, black Mama Mable and the little white girl combines with Mama Mable's role as nurturer to summon uncomfortable echoes of the stereotypical mammy figure. Furthermore, the women Sieg bases her fictional characters on played music and faced discrimination, racism, and segregation while touring, all realities that are absent from this cheery text. One inspiration was Willie Mae Wong, who played in the all-women integrated band known as the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. That was a real band that defied the segregation of their time; piecing together a fictional band inspired by different famous women from that era "to cheer up this good nation" does them and history a disservice. A fascinating music history that is diminished in its execution. (author's note) (Picture book. 3-6)

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October 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 4-While the men in the United States were away at war in the 1940s, all-female bands formed to entertain the women who were left behind working both in and out of the home. Sieg fictionalizes this part of history with the creation of Mama Mable's All-Gal Big Band Jazz Extravaganza. The band is a composite of many real musicians of the time period, cited by the author as Viola Smith, Lil Hardin, Valaida Snow, Willie Mae Wong, Dot Sauter, and Melba Liston, with Mama Mable being a nod to musicians such as Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Nina Simone, and Ella Fitzgerald. The story is narrated by a collective "we" ("we welded, sawed, and sewed"), setting up the time period and then taking a trip to Mama Mable's show, where the music is described in lyrical detail, ending with a spread about the healing power of music. Illustrations are full color and vivid. Text is sparse, averaging three to four lines per page spread. VERDICT This title would be a welcome introduction to a music unit on jazz with follow-up on specific musicians, or an addition to a lesson about life in the United States during World War II. Recommended for collections with a strong music and history focus.-Kate Olson, Bangor School District, WI

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