Illustrator: Stacy Innerst
Publisher: Harcourt Childrens (March 19, 2013)
Source: Bought
Audience: Grades 2nd to 5th
Biographical * Rock Musicians * England
Description from GoodReads:
Q: How do you find all this business of having screaming girls following you all over the place?
George: Well, we feel flattered . . .
John: . . . and flattened.
When the Beatles burst onto the music scene in the early 1960s, they were just four unknown lads from Liverpool. But soon their off-the-charts talent and offbeat humor made them the most famous band on both sides of the Atlantic. Lively, informative text and expressive, quirky paintings chronicle the phenomenal rise of Beatlemania, showing how the Fab Four’s sense of humor helped the the lads weather everything that was thrown their way—including jelly beans.
My thoughts on the book:
When I saw that there was a picture book biography on The Beatles, I thought that someone was being a bit gutsy. Of course, until I saw that it was Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer. At that point, I figured if anyone could pull it off, then they could, and I wasn't wrong. I read this book on an evening where there was little excitement radiating out of the stack of picture books that I was reading. However, The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny) shone as brightly as its vibrant yellow cover.
Krull and Brewer take readers on a journey that begins with how the Beatles formed through their rise in fame in England and then the United States and beyond. The text provides young readers with the highlights of the Beatles career that one would expect and does so in a readable manner mixed with just the right amount of detail and a twist of humor. The question and answer section was particularly funny with a page dedicated to each one of the Beatles demonstrating something unique about that individual.
Stacy Innerst's paintings compliment and expand the text in a way that brings the book to the next level. His attention to detail, and the small touches on many of the pages reflect the personality and music of the Beatles. Resulting in a book that not only works on a written level, but can be enjoyed just as thoroughly from its images.
There are important dates in Beatles History and additional sources listed at the end of the book. The only thing that I might have wished for was an author's note or even an illustrator's note. Regardless, this book is outstanding and would be a great gift for any fan of Rock Music history or for a classroom or school library collection.
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