What Is Punk?

August 10, 2015
Clay artist Yi molds lumpy, fantastically detailed Plasticine figures to create scenes of the birth of punk. Using a benign craft-project material for the skinny bodies and ragged clothing of Joey Ramone, Sid Vicious, and their rowdy, fist-waving
audiences is very much in the spirit of punk (Plasticine is especially good for mohawks), and readers will spend long stretches inspecting her painstakingly modeled guitars, amplifiers, and safety pins. Music industry veteran Morse’s too-cute verse, sadly, lacks the substance and wit that such a project deserves. Moving from New York City and Detroit to London and the California coast, the text consists largely of lists of punk bands studded with occasional trivia (“Iggy Pop and the Stooges/ were known for outrageous stunts./ If you ask, anyone will tell you:/ Iggy never wore a shirt, not once!”), too often marred by awkward rhythms and phrasings (“The Descendants and the Dickies, Circle Jerks, Germs, and Weirdos,/ were all punks who had fun and kept fans on their toes”). In all, it’s not quite enough to give a real sense of the power of punk. Ages 3–7.

August 1, 2015
A punk primer for the youngest set. There is no doubt that kids can make a deafening roar. But do they care about the energy and hard-edged spirit of punk music? Morse, in attempt to capture that unique history, tells the story of punk within the confines of rhyming couplets. The rhymes give the text an appreciated momentum, but the cramped (and sometimes-stilted) cadence seems an odd choice for such an aggressive movement. Morse says himself of punk beginnings: "With their eyes open wide / they shouted in fear, / 'What new sound is this?' / and covered their ears." Regardless, Morse does include an impressive list of bands: the Ramones, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and across the pond to the Clash, and, yes, even the Sex Pistols (the ladies of punk are represented as well-we'll disregard the stereotypical pink backdrop). Yi's incredibly detailed clay figures are a kinetic and inspired art choice. Their crazy creativity matches the expressive spirit of punk. Morse doesn't necessarily answer the title question, instead offering a simple string of bands, but as he points out, the best way to learn about punk is just to listen. The target audience may be a bit perplexed, but if invested adults love the topic, a shared reading experience can't be beat. (Picture book. 4-8)

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January 1, 2016
Calling all hipster parents: this adult-pleasing primer tells the (basic) story of punk and its legendary bands (such as, Ycf2]ahemYcf1], Circle Jerks). As the Clash's Joe Strummer (pictured herein) would say, a band is only as good as its drummer, and when Morse's rhymes drop a beat, it hurts the whole. Yi uses clay to create dead ringers of the greats.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)