Mister and Lady Day: Billie Holiday and the Dog Who Loved Her

by Amy Novesky, Vanessa Brantley Newton (Illustrator)

Overview

Billie Holiday—also known as Lady Day—had fame, style, a stellar voice, big gardenias in her hair, and lots of dogs. She had a coat-pocket poodle, a beagle, Chihuahuas, a Great Dane, and more, but her favorite was a boxer named Mister. Mister was always there to bolster her courage through good times and bad, even before her legendary appearance at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Newton’s stylish illustrations keep the simply told story focused on the loving bond between Billie Holiday and her treasured boxer. An author’s note deals more directly with the singer’s troubled life, and includes a little-known photo of Mister and Lady Day!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780152058067
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/18/2013
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD580L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Amy Novesky has written several well-received picture books including Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O’Keeffe Painted What She Pleased, illustrated by Yuyi Morales. Ms. Novesky lives with her family in Sausalito, California. Visit her online at www.amynovesky.com.

Vanessa Brantley Newton is the author-illustrator of Let Freedom Sing and the illustrator of One Love by Cedella Marley.

Editorial Reviews

This biography of Billie Holiday (1915–1959) is as much a study of her dogs as of the singer. And there were a lot of them. “The Chihuahuas, Chiquita and Pepe, she fed with a baby bottle,” writes Novesky. “There was the Great Dane named Gypsy and the wire-haired terrier Bessie Mae Moocho,” and more. Lady Day’s favorite was her boxer, Mister, and this story’s drama centers around whether Mister will be there for Holiday after “she had to leave home for a year and a day” (endnotes explain that this was due to a conviction for drug possession). Newton’s illustrations neatly incorporate sheet music, photographic elements, and period ephemera, and both text and art capture the sweet bond between Holiday and her beloved animals. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 2–5—This introduction to the jazz great has tons of kid appeal. Capitalizing on her indulgent devotion to her pet dogs, Lady Day is presented with lighthearted whimsy: a little white poodle in her coat pocket; two bottle-fed Chihuahuas; and her beloved boxer, Mister, sporting a mink coat and waiting in the wings at every performance, to name a few. From the little girl who loved to sing along to her favorite recordings to the grown woman who became a star, Holiday will capture the imagination of young music lovers. Even the lowest times of her life are presented in terms of her pups: "…just when her career was at the top, Lady got into trouble. She had to leave home for a year and a day. And Mister couldn't come. Lady knew what it was like to be left, and it made her heartsick." Older children who read the appended biographical note learn that these simple lines refer to Holiday's abandonment as a child and to the drug addiction that would take her life. The generously sized gouache-and-charcoal illustrations capture the glamour and humor of this singer and dog-lover's experiences. Bright colors, full spreads, and collage combine to paint a larger-than-life portrait. Pair this title with Sue Stauffacher's Bessie Smith and the Night Riders (Putnam, 2006) for units on black or women's history or an introduction to jazz and blues.—Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools

School Library Journal

Using simple, reductive prose, this appreciation of jazz great Holiday focuses on the dogs in the singer's life. "Lady Day's dogs were her best friends of all." Novesky supports this assertion with evidence: a pocket-sized poodle, a beagle, Chihuahuas; a mutt called Rajah Ravoy. But the spotlight's on Mister, Holiday's elegant, devoted boxer, who went to gigs, dined on steaks and even wore a mink coat. While an author's note provides background, the text is resolutely oblique on the subject of Holiday's 1947 drug conviction and jail time. "[J]ust when her career was at the top, Lady got into trouble. She had to leave home for a year and a day. And Mister couldn't come." While much of the narrative is fact-based, Novesky does take an acknowledged liberty in speculating that Mister might have attended Billie's successful post-prison show at Carnegie Hall. (Illustrator Newton places Mister there, on the final spread.) Newton's appealing mixed-media pictures, containing elements of gouache, charcoal, collage and digital layering, range from images derived from concert photos to a playful imagining of napkin-draped Mister drooling over a steak. Her reliance on period photos has one drawback: Holiday's face and physique alter in several spreads, belying the compressed, undated narrative arc. By highlighting Lady Day's affectionate relationship with Mister, Novesky and Newton invite readers to admire the illustrious singer in a sparkling new light. (author's note, website, adult bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

"True to Billie Holiday's life and music, the rhythmic free verse and bright pictures mix joy and melancholy in this picture-book introduction to the great blues singer, known as Lady Day."
—Booklist

"By highlighting Lady Day's affectionate relationship with Mister, Novesky and Newton invite readers to admire the illustrious singer in a sparkling new light."
—Kirkus

"This introduction to the jazz great has tons of kid appeal."
—School Library Journal

"Both text and art capture the sweet bond between Holiday and her beloved animals."
—Publishers Weekly
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From the Publisher