Meet the Husband-and-Wife Team Behind Duke Ellington
by Traci Swain
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Play this Scholastic Book Clubs–exclusive video interview with Coretta Scott King Award–winning author Andrea Davis Pinkney and Caldecott Honor–winning illustrator Brian Pinkney to discover how the wife-and-husband team created Duke Ellington.
When talking about the inspiration for his work, Duke Ellington once said, “You’ve got to find some way of saying it without saying it.” To do that, the King of the Keys used the piano—and the Pinkneys used the written word and art to tell his story.
Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney are the creators behind Duke Ellington—an award-winning picture book about the legendary jazz pianist and composer. Andrea’s rhythmic prose and Brian’s vivid illustrations bring the Duke’s story to life in a way that goes beyond simply “saying it.”
Your students will be inspired by this exclusive interview with the Pinkneys and discover:
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• How the Pinkneys dressed up in 1920s clothes to model for Brian’s illustrations
• The ways in which the Duke’s music inspired the Pinkneys’ colorful approach to the book
• How Brian draws his flowing, expressive illustrations
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What questions do your students want to ask Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney? Please share with us on social media using the hashtag #ScholasticBookClubs.
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Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney continue to make an outstanding contribution to the field of children’s literature both individually and as a team. Between them, they have published more than 70 children’s books that have received the highest awards and accolades, including Caldecott Honors, Coretta Scott King Honors, NAACP Image Award nominations, and the May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award, to name just a few. To learn more, please visit andreadavispinkney.com and brianpinkney.net.
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This Book Is Available from Scholastic Book Clubs
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