| Ukulele: The World’s Friendliest Instrument Daniel Dixon Gibbs Smith Publishing Hardcover 144 Pages Audience – Any Player Rating –  Ukulele pictured – c. 1960’s Silvertone Baritone |
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Lavishly illustrated it follows the same general format as most ukulele books. It starts with a history of the instrument and its emergence from Hawaii to the rest of the world. It then goes into a variety of the great players, both past and present, and some of the amazing manufacturers. The use of photographs and pictures makes the book flow nicely and provides a colorful read.
The book includes a few pages at the back from “The Daily Ukulele” by Jim Beloff on playing the instrument and a chord chart with 108 of the most common chords. The resources include web sites and local clubs, but it is a limited listing (12 entries) and is unfortunately already out of date.
Overall I found this an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the history, both past and near past, of this friendly instrument. I believe the author delivered on his attempt to entertain, with a bit of education mixed in. My biggest negative is the lack of an index makes it difficult to use as a reference, something I would be likely to do.
