La pequeña Melba y su gran trombón

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

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 the award-winning author of several children’s picture books, including Little Melba and Her Big Trombone and She Was the First! The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm. When not writing picture books, Russell-Brown is a professor of law, teaching and researching on issues of race and crime and the sociology of law. Learn more 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

  • 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

  • Georgia Children's Book Award

    University of Georgia

  • 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 / African American & Black
  • BISAC Category 3 JNF / Biography & Autobiography / Women
  • Themes African / African American / Black / Afro Caribbean, 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
  • Languages Spanish
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 6 - 10
  • Grade Range Grades 1 - 5
  • Guided Reading U
  • Spanish Guided Reading U
  • Spanish ATOS 4
  • DRA 44
  • Interest Level Grades 1 - 5
  • Lexile Level 710
  • Lexile Measurement 710L
  • Reading Level Grades 3 - 4
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
  • This Book is Included in These Collections: