Book-A-Day 10: Jazzy Miz Mozetta

Jazzy Miz Mozetta

Written by: Brenda C. Roberts

Illustrated by: Frank Morrison

Jazzy Miz Mozetta has some moves! She can jitterbug with the best of them and aims to do so after getting all dolled up and decked out in her "Pretty Plum Powder, Tango Mango lipstick, best firecracker red dress and pizazzy hat".  She gets stopped short when some local neighborhood kids dampen her mood after wanting her to be more of a spectator to their moves than a participant in the dancing action.  Making her way back to the confines of her house she sits down to reminisce about the days of old when she could be-bop and jitterbug the night away in clubs filled with the sound of jazz.  With a knock at the door, a night of memories quickly turns into a "kick, kick, kick, stomp, stomp, skiddle, dee wee bop" kind of dancing night with a few friends both young and old.  

This book will take you back to the days of jazz and have you cheering for Miz Mozetta as she turns up her radio to whirl and twirl the night away.  When her jitterbug friends Wildcat Willie, Lightin' Lou Lillie, and Downtown Brown come knocking at her door the fun just begins.  With phrases like, "She turned up the radio, and faster than a rat can scat, up popped the Fat Cat Band, rooty toot toot and a re bop she bam", kids are sure to delight in hearing this book read aloud and will be itching to know more about the age of jazz when the story is done.  

In addition to generating interest around music and dance from times past, this book could be used in several other ways with students.  Brenda Roberts uses language that creates vivid imagery as you read through the first few pages.  Pull students into the book by having them create their own sketches of Mizz Mozetta as they listen to the story without viewing the pictures.  Have them envision this character based on the author's description and then compare their sketches to one another and to what they see in the book.  Ask students to listen for all the various ways the author uses onomatopoeia and forms of figurative language to spice up the words in the story to make it more enjoyable for the reader.  

Jazzy Miz Mozetta was a Coretta Scott King book award recipient in 2005.  The dynamic illustrations created by Frank Morrison and the jazzy words of Brenda Roberts create a wonderfully fun book to spark your own jitterbug move or two!