Product Description

Since it first appeared on the 1974 album Planet Waves, "Forever Young" has been one of Bob Dylan's most beloved songs. Now award-winning artist Paul Rogers gives us a new interpretation of the lyrics. With images inspired by classic Dylan songs and pieces of his life, this is a bold and touching tribute to an anthem whose message will always stay forever young.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18379 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 40 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Dylan's 1974 anthem unfolds as a series of vignettes following the growth of a musician/activist (his clean-cut blondness is a far cry from the scruffiness of the real Dylan). May you grow up to be righteous,/ May you grow up to be true finds the hero fist-bumping an African-American school chum; May you have a strong foundation/ When the winds of changes shift captures him on the front lines of a peace demonstration. Rogers's line drawings may surprise admirers of his Jazz ABZ: the chilly rendering style and the flat, digitally manipulated compositions recall 1960s low-budget animation. The key to this book's likeliest audience, however, rests in the many visual shout-outs to Dylan's career (they're all explained in an endnote). DA Pennebaker can be seen filming the peace march, while Edie Sedgwick, Joan Baez and other hipster icons are among the marchers; another spread depicts the Greenwich Village clubs where Dylan played in the 1960s, and throws in references to both Lay, Lady, Lay (a big brass bed glimpsed through a window) and the cover of the 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Baby boomers will have a blast decoding it all. All ages. (Sept.)
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About the Author
Bob Dylan is one of the most lauded and greatest loved songwriters and performers of all time. His particular brand of music first caught the public's attention in the 1960s, when he became something of a chronicler of the American conscience and cultural unrest. His remarkable career in music and literature continues to this day.

Paul Rogers is the illustrator of Wynton Marsalis's book Jazz ABZ. In addition to illustrating children's books, he has created images for the New York Times, Pixar Animation Studios, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and the NFL's Super Bowl. He lives with his wife, Jill, and his two children, Alex and Nate, in Pasadena, California.

Customer Reviews

A Sweet Book
This is a sweet little book that takes the lyrics from one of Dylan's gentler songs, and attaches them to a story of treating people with love and respect, and following your dream. The illustrations are filled with enough in- jokes from Dylan's life and lyrics to give adult fans something to look for, and straightforward enough for the little ones. The book is no big deal, but not everything has to be. It's probably great for the kids, and for the adult Dylan collector, it fits right next to "Man Gave Names to All the Animals."

Unbridled Excellence
As a rabid Bob Dylan fan, it was important to share my love of his work with my children. I feel so lucky to have found this book! The illustrations are brilliantly executed and richly textured, suiting the lyrical content of the book perfectly. My kids can't get enough of it, and love to look at the pictures while I play the song for them on vinyl. This book is a wonderful way to bridge generations and an easy, fun bedtime tuck-in book. I highly recommend it!

It Helps To Know a bit about Dylan and Folk Music
The one major thing missing from this book is SOUND. Like similar books for children on jazz that I have reviewed, this calls out for a CD with recording of the song but obviously Sony/BMG isn't licensing it to Simon and Schuster.

The illustrations are nicely done and in the back, the author explains the relevance of the images in the pictures, like the sticker on Woody Guthrie's guitar. These "footnotes" really help because otherwise you wouldn't recognize folks like John Hammond, Ringo Starr and Jack Kerouac in the illustrations.

Dylan fans will want this for their collection (especially those collecting his "early years". But I can't see someone not already into Dylan needing this book.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"