Interview with Mrs. Debbie Taylor, author of ≥Sweet Music In Harlem≤ and the First Grade at St. Thomasπs Day School, New Haven, CT.

May 22, 2007

The interview was conducted via a speakerphone with all of the children gathered in one room at a home in New Haven, CT and the author, Mrs. Debbie Taylor, at her office in Ann Arbor, MI.

There were 17 questions and the interview lasted approximately 40 minutes. Present with the children were the Head Teacher, Craig S. OπConnell, the Assistant Teacher, Miss Jocelyn Freeman and the school Librarian, Ms. Toni Wright.

The questions and answers were as follows:

1. How did you get the idea to write a book about the photograph ≥Great Day In Harlem"?

Mrs. Taylorπs husband was wearing the tee shirt with the picture on it, and she began to wonder who the kids were in the picture. Her husband didnπt know, and she wondered what the children in the picture thought about having all those famous musicians in their neighborhood on that day. She wrote herself a note – jazz story – and started six months later.

2. How did you come up with the name for the book?

Mrs. Taylor did not come up with the name originally. She called the book ≥On A Harlem Morning.≤ The editor did not like the title and asked her to brainstorm 15 more titles. The editors chose one, which she really likes now.

3. Who found the illustrator for the book?

The editor / publisher finds the illustrators for most picture books. The authors and illustrators usually never meet. The editor often makes changes to the original manuscript, and then looks at which illustrator they think should do the book. They then give the manuscript to the illustrator to read and ask if they would like to work on it. For this book, the editor went to an art show in NYC, saw Frank Morrisonπs work, and he agreed to illustrate the story.

4. How long did it take you to write the book?

Mrs. Taylor began the book in 1999 and finished it in 2002 – 3 years.

5. Where are C.J.'s parents and why is he living with his uncle? C.J.πs parent died from pneumonia, and his uncle wanted to take care of him. Of course C.J. is a fictional, made up character. He is not a real person and his parents are not actual people. Mrs. Taylor remembers two uncles she had growing up who were very nice to her and allowed her to do things her parents would not allow, like eat sardines.

6. How did you decide upon the names of the characters in the book -- C.J., Uncle Click, Mattie Dee, Canary Alma and Charlie Garlic?

C. J. – The character told her his name when she started the story.

Uncle Click – She wanted a name that sounded jazzy and cool, with 3 syllables.

Mattie Dee – She wanted a name to remind readers of Mickey Dπs, a name for McDonaldπs.

Canary Alma – She wanted an interesting name that gives the reader some information about her – She sings like a canary and her favorite color is yellow. If Mrs. Taylor had the opportunity to talk with the illustrator, she would have suggested that her dress should have been yellow, and not red.

Charlie Garlic – Mrs. Taylor was in a car one time with her mom and saw a man talking at a red light. They couldnπt tell what he was saying, but her mom said, ≥that man thinks heπs Charlie Garlic≤ and the name stuck with her.

7. How did you decide what stuff Uncle Click would lose and where he would lose them?

Mrs. Taylor thought of the kind of things that a man in that time period might carry or have – a bowtie, pocket watch, and a handkerchief. In the original manuscript she also included a sock and something else, which were eliminated. She wanted them to be lost in interesting places.

8. How did you decide to have a waitress, barber and vocalist in the book?

Mrs. Taylor wanted to show a real neighborhood with businesses and friendly people living life outside of music. She knew that people need to eat and have haircuts, so she included those. Her original story included a policeman and green grocer, but the editor said there were too many people, so she had to eliminate two. She left the ones that she felt were most interesting. She mentioned that she could use the eliminated characters in another story sometime.

9. How did you find us?

Mr. O mentioned her book in a bibliography on the internet, and she went to the jazz site and the school site. She was very excited to see the artwork on the website, which is the main reason she contacted Mr. O. She thought it was a cool class who had done the artwork. And then she emailed Mr. O.

10. How did you come up with the names for the places in the book?

Garlic Barbershop was named after Mr. Garlic.

Eat and Run Diner was a short and funny name she liked.

Midnight Melody Club was not her first idea; she wanted to call it Midnight Blue. But the editor did not like that name.

11. How did you come up with the name for the magazine?

She researched a record company called the Blue Note and liked the sound. She wanted ≥note≤ in the name and something positive, so she came up with Highnote.

12. Do you know any real jazz musicians?

Mrs. Taylor wishes she did. She knows Vincent York, a saxophone player.

13. Do you like to listen to jazz? Who do you like to listen to?

Mrs. Taylor does like to listen to jazz. She did not pay attention to jazz before she worked on the book even though her husband has a jazz collection that he plays all the time. Now she likes to listen to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, and Marian McPartland. Mrs. Taylor was very impressed with the first graderπs knowledge of jazz musicians.

14. Have you been to Harlem and to the house where the photo was taken?

Mrs. Taylor has never been to Harlem, or to the house.

15. Why did you want to write the book? Have you written any other children's books?

Mrs. Taylor wrote the book because she wanted to make up and tell a story, and she could control what happened in the story. She also wanted to share the photo. She has written other stories, published in magazines such as Cricket, but Sweet Music in Harlem is the only one that has been published in book form. She has written ≥For The First Night of Kwanzaa≤, ≥Shelly and the Great Purple Hair Streak≤, a story about the Tuskegee Airmen, ≥Back Door Sugar≤, about a lemonade stand, and a basketball story. She is always writing.

16. Do you play an instrument?

No. When she was younger, her family did not have money for extra things, and at school you had to pay to use the instruments, so she never asked her mom. As an adult, she has a recorder, which she is trying to learn to play. Her adult daughters, Erika and Elaina play the clarinet and violin.

17. How old is C.J.?

When she wrote the story, Mrs. Taylor thought C.J. would be 8 or 9 years old, old enough to walk around by himself at the time of the story.

Mrs. Taylor asked the first graders to name their favorite jazz musicians, and mentioned that favorites can change. She then advised first graders to read a lot over the summer. She liked to read growing up but did not have many books in her home, and the library was far away and a very long walk. She read cereal boxes when she ran out of books. She pointed out that most writers started out as readers who read a lot of books.

The children listed the following jazz musicians as their favorites: (Thelonious) Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Roy Haynes, Art Blakey, Billie Holiday, Giacomo Gates, Bird (Charlie Parker), Sonny Rollins, Louis Armstrong and Dizzy (Gillespie).