La pequeña Melba y su gran trombón

(Little Melba and Her Big Trombone)
By Katheryn Russell-Brown, Frank Morrison
Paperback: $13.95

Galardonada con el premio Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award, una biografía de la virtuosa del jazz afroamericana Melba Doretta Liston, una trombonista, compositora y arreglista musical pionera del siglo XX en una época en la que pocas mujeres tocaban instrumentos y formaban parte de la escena del jazz.

Recipient of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor award, 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 played brass instruments and were part of the jazz scene.

Front cover for Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown and Frank Morrison
This book is also available in English
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
By Katheryn Russell-Brown, Frank Morrison

Description

A los siete años, Melba Doretta Liston se enamoró de un trombón grande y brillante, y pronto aprendió a tocar el instrumento. Cuando era una adolescente, el extraordinario don de Melba para la música la llevó al mundo del jazz. Se unió a una banda dirigida por el trompetista Gerald Wilson y recorrió el país. Superando obstáculos de raza y género, Melba se convirtió en una famosa trombonista y arreglista, transformando ritmos, armonías y melodías en magníficas canciones para todos los grandes del jazz del siglo XX: Randy Weston, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holiday y Quincy Jones, por nombrar solo algunos.

Rebosante de entusiasmo y la alegría de hacer música, La pequeña Melba y su gran trombón es un maravilloso tributo a un músico pionero y un gran héroe anónimo del jazz.

At age seven, Melba Doretta Liston 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.

About the Creators

Katheryn Russell-Brown

Katheryn Russell-Brown is a Professor of Law and the Director of the Center for Race and Race Relations at the University of Florida. She grew up in a family of music lovers, where jazz was an integral part of the sounds of daily life. A radio broadcast in 2008 about Liston inspired Russell-Brown to research the musician and eventually to write Little Melba and Her Big Trombone, her first picture book. Russell-Brown lives in Gainesville, Florida, with her family. Visit her online at krbrown.net.

Frank Morrison

Frank Morrison has illustrated numerous award-winning books, including the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor winner Little Melba and Her Big Trombone, published by Lee & Low Books. Before becoming an illustrator, Morrison was a graffiti artist and b-boy. Morrison lives with his family in Georgia. You can learn more about him at morrisongraphics.com.

Awards

  • Georgia Children's Book Award

    University of Georgia

  • Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Honor

    American Library Association (ALA)

  • ALSC Notable Children's Books

    American Library Association (ALA)

  • NAACP Image Awards Nominee

    National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

  • Amelia Bloomer Book List

    American Library Association (ALA)

  • Notable Books for a Global Society

    International Literacy Association (ILA)

  • Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction Recommended

    National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

  • Best Books

    Kirkus Reviews

  • Best Books of the Year

    School Library Journal

  • CCBC Choices

    Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

  • Best Children's Books of the Year Outstanding

    Bank Street College of Education

  • Best Multicultural Books

    Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature

  • Best of the Best Books

    Chicago Public Library

  • Delaware Diamonds Awards

    Diamond State Literacy Association

  • Eureka! Nonfiction Children's Book Award

    California Reading Association

  • Louisiana Young Readers' Choice

    State Library of Louisiana

Reviews

  • * "Russell-Brown's debut text has an innate musicality, mixing judicious use of onomatopoeia with often sonorous prose. Morrison's sinuous, exaggerated lines are the perfect match for Melba's story. . . Readers will agree that 'Melba Doretta Liston was something special.'"

    - Kirkus Reviews
  • * "Music lovers will enjoy this picture-book biography of Melba Liston (1926-1999), 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. . . A celebration of the talent and success of a little-known African American female musician, this title will enrich library collections."

    - School Library Journal
  • * "Staccato rhythms pepper the fluid prose . . . Morrison's oil paintings practically sway with a jazz beat, though somber moments crop up, too: the shadows on Liston's face signify the trials of life on the road. A final image showing long-limbed Liston in profile as she plays under the glow of stage lights is exquisite."

    - Publishers Weekly
  • "In a smoothly passed narrative, this picture-book biography surveys the full life arc of a relatively unknown and unique jazz master. Brimming with inherent and inescapable enthusiasm, the oil-painting illustrations are the cat's pajamas, with brassy colors and jazzy perspectives that slide across the long pages, like Melba's own instrument."

    - Booklist
  • * "A biographical read about a young woman who beat many odds due to her love of music. Perfect for burgeoning musicians and aficionados, and certainly for the nonfiction shelves."

    - School Library Journal
  • "Little Melba and Her Big Trombone will delight every child who carries a rhythm or song in their heart."

    - San Francisco Chronicle Book 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."

    - New York Journal of Books

Paperback

  • ISBN 9781643797199
  • Price $13.95
  • Publication Date May 28, 2024
  • Trim Size 8.75 × 10.5 in
  • Weight 0.43125 lbs
  • Page Count 40
  • Interests

  • Imprint Lee & Low Books
  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JNF / Biography & Autobiography / Music
  • BISAC Category 2 JNF / People & Places / United States / African American
  • BISAC Category 3 JNF / Biography & Autobiography / Women
  • Themes African / African American / Black, Biography / Memoir, Breaking Gender Barriers, Childhood Experiences and Memories, Civil Rights Movement, Courage, Discrimination, Dreams & Aspirations, Education, History & Civics, Identity / Self Esteem / Confidence, Informational / Expository Nonfiction, Jazz, Mothers, Music, Nonfiction, Optimism / Enthusiasm, Overcoming Obstacles, Persistence / Grit, Spanish, United States History, Women's History
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 6 - 10
  • Grade Range Grades 1 - 5
  • Guided Reading U
  • Spanish Guided Reading U
  • DRA 44
  • Interest Level Grades 1 - 5
  • Lexile Level 710
  • Reading Level Grades 3 - 4
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
  • ADA Site Compliance-Accessibility Policy