Talkin' Guitar: A Story of Young Doc Watson

Everything in his Appalachian upbringing was music to Arthel Watson's ears. Eventually his pappy got him a harmonica, made him a banjo, then--finally--bought him a guitar. Arthel grew up to become bluegrass legend "Doc" Watson. The light color palette is broken by an entirely black spread: "Maybe it was because [Arthel] was blind." A text in a storyteller's cadence accompanies the folk-inspired art. Bib.

As a boy, Arthel Watson grew up in a "world of music." Everything in his Appalachian upbringing was music to Arthel's ears -- his mother's singing, natch, but also chickens clucking, the sound of the wind and the rain in the trees, the "high, lonesome whistle of the train." To fill his need for sound, young Arthel employed a few common percussion instruments (pots and pans) and some on the more eccentric side (cowbells, steel wire strung to a barn door). Eventually his pappy got him a harmonica, then made him a banjo, and then -- finally -- bought him a guitar. And the rest, as they say, is history, as Arthel grew up to become bluegrass legend "Doc" Watson. Gourley's impressionistic watercolors make good use of pastel purples, pinks, and yellows, contrasted with earthy browns and greens, painting a wistful portrait of Arthel's childhood. The lightness of the color palette at one point is broken by an entirely black double-page spread (brushstrokes visible) featuring one simple line: "Maybe it was because [Arthel] was blind." A text told in a storyteller's cadence ("He could make his guitar sound like a muskrat or a groundhog or a 'wooly boogie bee'") accompanies the folk-inspired art. Gourley's affectionate biography is a great starting point for young readers, who are most likely unfamiliar with Doc Watson. An author's note and list of sources are appended. sam bloom