On hot summer nights in New Orleans, a boy named Louis Armstrong would peek under the big swinging doors of Economy Hall and listen to the jazz band. The best night was Friday, when Bunk Johnson would blow his cornet till the roof trembled. At moments like those, Louis could feel his toes tingle. He wanted to be like Bunk Johnson; aim his horn straight up at the night sky and set the stars spinning.
One day Louis saw a horn in a pawnshop window — a real brass cornet. The cardboard sign said $5.00. How could he ever come up with that much money? Every day Louis did what he could to earn that five dollars, and every day he practiced blowing his imaginary horn. It was a dream he would never give up. Louis Armstrong’s dynamic personality and amazing trumpet playing would cast a spell on millions of people around the world, to whom he will always be the one and only Satchmo, the Ambassador of Jazz. 3-7 years
Just a Lucky So and So
By Lesa Cline-Ransome, Illustrated by James E. Ransome
Louis Armstrong has been called the most important improviser in the history of jazz. Although his New Orleans neighborhood was poor in nearly everything, it was rich in superb music. Young Louis took it all in, especially the cornet blowing of Joe “King” Oliver. But after a run-in with the police, eleven-year-old Louis was sent away to the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys where he became a disciplined musician in the school’s revered marching band. Ultimately, he was to travel the world and transform jazz through his improvised singing (scatting) and masterful trumpet playing. 6-9 years
Who Was Louis Armstrong?
By Yona Zeldis McDonough, Illustrated by John O’Brien
If not for a stint in reform school, young Louis Armstrong might never have become a musician. It was a teacher at the Colored Waifs Home for Boys who gave him a cornet and saw talent in the kid from the tough New Orleans neighborhood called Storyville. But it was Louis’s own passion and genius that pushed jazz into a new and exciting direction with his amazing, improvisational trumpet playing. 8-12 years
A Horn for Louis: Louis Armstrong as a Kid
By Eric A. Kimmel, Illustrated by James Bernardin
How did famous New Orleans jazz trumpet player Louis Armstrong get his first horn? Seven-year-old Louis was too poor to buy a real instrument. He didn’t even go to school. To help his mother pay the rent, every day he rode a junk wagon through the streets of New Orleans, playing a tin horn and collecting stuff people didn’t want. One day, he passed a pawn shop with a gleaming brass trumpet in the window… 7-10 years
Play, Louis, Play! The Story of a Boy and His Horn
By Muriel Harris Weinstein, Illustrated by Frank Morrision
The childhood of Louis Armstrong was as fascinating as the great musician himself. This chapter book biography is written from the point of view of Louis’s closest companion throughout his youth: his horn! In an exuberant voice, this unusual narrator tells Louis’s story beginning with the small New Orleans hock shop where he bought his first trumpet for five hard-earned dollars. He goes from a street quartet to the marching band of the Colored Waif’s Home to the big sounds of New Orleans. 7-10 years
Louis Armstrong Jazz Legend
By Terry Collins, Illustrated by Richie Pope
Louis Armstrong, also known as Satchmo and Pops, became an American jazz legend in the 1920s. His voice and skill with instruments helped him become a popular musician in the racially divided country. Watch as this skilled musician learns to play, buys his first instrument, and becomes one of the best music makers ever. 8-14 years
If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong
By Roxanne Orgill, Illustrated by Leonard Jenkins
This book tells the story of Louis Armstrong who grew up to be a giant of jazz. As a poor boy in New Orleans, where music was everywhere, he longed to play a horn. 9-12 years
Louis Armstrong: King of Jazz
By Patricia and Frederick McKissack
“Music has been in my blood from the day I was born,” Louis Armstrong said. He rose from a troubled childhood and a life of poverty to set the music world on fire. Armstrong’s lively trumpet playing, trademark “scat” singing, and natural talent for showmanship dazzled audiences for more than fifty years. 6-9 years
The book descriptions used are primarily from the publishers.
If you like this post, then please consider sharing it and leaving a comment below. Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s Author
By Walter Dean Myers, Illustrated by Christopher Myers
There’s a crazy syncopation/and it’s tearing through the nation/and it’s bringing sweet elation/to every single tune. It’s Jazz. From bebop to New Orleans, from ragtime to boogie, and every style in between, this collection of Walter Dean Myers’s energetic and engaging poems takes readers on a musical journey from jazz’s beginnings to the present day.
A Child’s Introduction to Jazz:
The Musicians, Culture, and Roots of the World’s Coolest Music
By Jabari Asim, Illustrated by Jerrard K. Polk
Welcome to jazz! Feel the music and rhythms of all the different styles of jazz, from swing and Dixieland to the blues and bebop, with this interactive introduction to the world’s coolest music.
Author Jabari Asim will take you on the journey through the history of jazz as you discover the most important musicians and singers while hearing some really cool sounds. You’ll learn all about the roots of jazz in Africa and New Orleans and how the music traveled to different parts of the United States and around the world. Along the way you’ll meet legendary trumpeter Louis Armstrong, who shaped a new form of jazz called improvisation; pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington, who helped create the big band sound of the swing era; and the singer Billie Holiday, whose songs such as “God Bless the Child,” “Don’t Explain,” and “Lady Sings the Blues” have become jazz standards. 8-12 years
Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald
by Roxane Orgill, Illustrated by Sean Qualls
When Ella Fitzgerald danced the Lindy Hop on the streets of 1930s Yonkers, people passing by said goodbye to their loose change. For a girl who was orphaned and hungry, with raggedy clothes and often no place to spend the night, small change was not enough. One amateur night at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Ella made a discovery: the dancing beat in her feet could travel up and out of her mouth in powerful song — and the feeling of being listened to was like a salve to her heart.
Birth of Cool: How Jazz Great Miles Davis Found His Sound
By Kathleen Cornell Berman, Illustrated Keith Henry Brown
As a young musician, Miles Davis heard music everywhere. This biography explores the childhood and early career of a jazz legend as he finds his voice and shapes a new musical sound. Follow his progression from East St. Louis to rural Arkansas, from Julliard and NYC jazz clubs to the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival. Rhythmic free verse imbues his story with musicality and gets readers in the groove. Music teachers and jazz fans will appreciate the beats and details throughout, and Miles’ drive to constantly listen, learn, and create will inspire kids to develop their own voice.
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
By Katheryn Russell-Brown, Illustrated by Frank Morrison
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 the age of 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, toured the country, and became famous.
Trombone Shorty
By Troy Andrews, Illustrated by Bryan Collier
Hailing from the Treme neighborhood in New Orleans, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews got his nickname by wielding a trombone twice as long as he was tall. A prodigy, he was leading his own band by age six, and today he headlines the legendary New Orleans Jazz Fest.
Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane
By Carol Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Sean Qualls
Young John Coltrane was all ears. And there was a lot to hear growing up in the South in the 1930s. There were preachers praying, music on the radio, and the bustling sounds of the household. These vivid noises shaped John’s own sound as amusician. This picture book is a rich hymn to the childhood of jazz legend John Coltrane.
Who Was Louis Armstrong?
By Yona Zeldis McDonough, Illustrated by John O’Brien
If not for a stint in reform school, young Louis Armstrong might never have become a musician. A teacher at Colored Waifs Home gave him a cornet, promoted him to band leader, and recognized talent in this tough kid from the even tougher New Orleans neighborhood of Storyville. It was Louis’s own passion and genius that pushed jazz into new and exciting realms.
This Jazz Man
By Karen Ehrhardt, Illustrated by R.G. Roth
SNAP! BOMP! BEEDLE-DI-BOP! In this toe-tapping jazz tribute, the traditional “This Old Man” gets a swinging makeover, and some of the era’s best musicians take center stage. The tuneful text and vibrant illustrations bop, slide, and shimmy across the page as Satchmo plays one, Bojangeles plays two…right on down the line to Charles Mingus, who plays nine, plucking the strings that sound divine.
Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker
By Patricia Hruby Powell, Illustrated by Christian Robinson
Josephine Baker worked her way up from the slums of St. Louis to the grandest stages in the world. Her powerful story is one of struggle and triumph and is an inspiration.
Mister & Lady Day: Billie Holiday and the Dog Who Loved Her
By Amy Novesky, Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton
Billie Holiday—also known as Lady Day—had fame, style, a stellar voice, gardenias in her hair, and lots of dogs. She had a coat-pocket poodle, a beagle, Chihuahuas, a Great Dane, and more, but her favorite was a boxer named Mister. Mister was always there to bolster her courage, even at her legendary appearance at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Stylish illustrations keep the story focused on the bond between Holiday and her dog. An author’s note addresses the singer’s troubled life, and includes a little-known photo of Mister and Lady Day.
How Jelly Roll Morton Invented Jazz
By Jonah Winter, Illustrated by Keith Mallett
This unusual and inventive picture book riffs on the language and rhythms of old New Orleans and turns its focus to one of America’s early jazz heroes, Jelly Roll Morton.
Ella Queen of Jazz
By Helen Hancocks
Ella Fitzgerald sang the blues and she sang them well. Ella and her fellas were on the way up. It seemed like nothing could stop her, until the biggest club in town refused to let her play… and all because of her color. But when all hope seemed lost, little did Ella imagine that a Hollywood star would step in to help. This is the incredible true story of how a remarkable friendship between Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe was born – and how they worked together to overcome prejudice and adversity. 4-8 years
The book descriptions used are primarily from the publishers.
If you like this post, then please consider sharing it and leaving a comment below. Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s Author
