Written by Katheryn Russell-Brown
Illustrated by Frank Morrison
Published by Lee & Low Books
2015 NAACP Image Award Nominee, Outstanding Literary Work
NAACP
2015 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Honor
American Library Association (ALA)
2015 Notable Children's Book
American Library Association (ALA)
2015 Amelia Bloomer Project, Feminist Task Force
American Library Association (ALA)
2015 Best Chldren's Books: Outstanding Merit
Bank Street College of Education
2015 Notable Books for a Global Society
International Reading Association
2015 Choices
Cooperative Children's Book Center
2015 Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction, Recommended Title
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
2014 Best Children' Books
Kirkus
2014 Best Books: Nonfiction
School Library Journal
2014 Eureka! Award
California Reading Association
2014 Best Books, Honorable Mention
The Huffington Post
2014 Best Multicultural Books
Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Books
2014 Best of the Best Books
Chicago Public Library
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone (2014)
A biography of African American jazz virtuoso Melba Doretta Liston, a pioneering twentieth-century trombone player, composer, and music arranger at a time when few women, of any race, played brass instruments and were part of the jazz scene.
Melba Doretta Liston loved the sounds of music from as far back as she could remember. As a child, she daydreamed about beats and lyrics, and hummed along with the music from her family s Majestic radio. At age seven, Melba fell in love with a big, shiny trombone, and soon taught herself to play the instrument. By the time she was a teenager, Melba’s extraordinary gift for music led her to the world of jazz. She joined a band led by trumpet player Gerald Wilson and toured the country. Overcoming obstacles of race and gender, Melba went on to become a famed trombone player and arranger, spinning rhythms, harmonies, and melodies into gorgeous songs for all the jazz greats of the twentieth century: Randy Weston, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, and Quincy Jones, to name just a few.
Brimming with ebullience and the joy of making music, Little Melba and Her Big Trombone is a fitting tribute to a trailblazing musician and a great unsung hero of jazz.
Reviews
“Russell-Brown’s debut text has an innate musicality, mixing judicious use of onomatopoeia with often sonorous prose… An impressive discography complements a two-page afterword and a thorough bibliography. Readers will agree that Melba Doretta Liston was something special. ” –Kirkus, starred review
“Music lovers will enjoy this picture-book biography of Melba Liston (1926-99), child prodigy and virtuoso trombonist who collaborated with most 20th century jazz greats. An excellent match of breezy text and dynamic illustrations tells an exhilarating story… Russell-Brown’s text engages the senses… A celebration of the talent and success of a little-known African American female musician, this title will enrich library collection.” –School Library Journal, starred review
“Staccato rhythms pepper the fluid prose… ‘Blues, jazz, and gospel danced in her head – the plink of a guitar, the hummmm of a bass, the thrum=thrum of the drum.'” —Publisher’s Weekly, starred review
“Little Melba and Her Big Trombone is a finger-popping slice of history that offers a peep-hole into the little-known world of a female jazz players of the 1920s. The prose is fast-paced, lively, and factual and is written in a way that inspires the admiration of both children and adults.” —New York Journal of Books
“Little Melba and Her Big Trombone will delight every child who carries a rhythm or song in their heart. The words and illustrations of this picture book biography of musician and song-writer Melba Doretta Liston (1926-1999) practically blast off the page.” —San Francisco Book Review
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