Ben's Trumpet

Isadora, R. (1979). Ben's trumpet. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc..

Ben's Trumpet, a Caldecotte Honor Medal winner, is a story about a little boy that dreams of being a trumpet player in a jazz band. He can hear musicians playing from his front steps and listens to them whenever he gets the chance. He also stops by the club where the musicians play and watches them practice while he envisions himself playing. He pretends to play everywhere he goes until some kids see him and make fun of him for playing a trumpet when he doesn't have a trumpet. This has an adverse effect on Ben, but it is not the end of his dream. This story has both an internal (Ben & his desire to play music) and an external (Ben's desire to play & not having a trumpet) conflict, and Ben is a round character.

The illustration technique used in this book is primarily realistic with a few scenes of surreal drawings mixed in. The scenes of some of the musicians are very detailed and contain a lot of definition while others border on being abstract and surreal. The medium appears to be drawings done with pen and ink. The entire book is done in black and white, and several of the scenes are simple silhouettes with line outlines and white space for the remainder of the page.  The lack of color adds to the mood of the story, creating a sense of darkness and depression.