Before John Was a Jazz Giant explained

Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane
Author:Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrator:Sean Qualls
Country:United States
Language:English
Genre:Children's literature
Media Type:Picture book (hardcover)
Pages:32
Isbn:978-0-805-07994-4
Pub Date:April 1, 2008
Publisher:Henry Holt and Company

Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane is a children’s picture book written by American author and critic Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Sean Qualls. It tells the story of a young John Coltrane growing up in the South in the 1930s. It was published by Henry Holt in 2008.

Style

Before John Was a Jazz Giant consists of five poetic stanzas, each beginning with the phrase "Before John was a jazz giant". The stanzas provide "biographical details through metaphors evoking sound", such as "Before John was a jazz giant, / he heard Grandpa’s Sunday sermons, / Mama playing hymns for the senior choir, / and the scoutmaster’s call to join a band".[1]

At the end of the book, Weatherford includes a full-page note that provides additional biographical details.[2]

Reception

Reviews

Booklist's Hazel Rochman highlighted "the beat of lyrical words and the rhythm of the beautiful illustrations", while Kirkus Reviews discussed how "Qualls’s mixed-media full-bleed spreads employ a color palette (blue, sienna, ochre, white) and sonic iconography [...]. Circles and bubbles populate each spread, standing in for the emanations of Grandma’s cooking pots, the setting-sun sadness of a family funeral and sweet possibility, as John 'picked up that horn.'" On behalf of School Library Journal, Joyce Adams Burner described the writing as "evocative" in how it "traces Coltrane's influences simply and stunningly, her redolent voice as smooth and vivid as jazz itself".[3]

Awards and honors

Before John Was a Jazz Giant is a Junior Library Guild book.[4]

The Chicago Public Library named Before John Was a Jazz Giant one of the best Informational Books for Younger Readers of 2009,[5] and Bank Street College of Education included it on their list of the best children's books of the year.[6]

The Association for Library Service to Children named Before John Was a Jazz Giant a 2009 Notable Children's Book,[7] and the National Council for the Social Studies included it on their 2009 list of Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People.[8]

Awards for Before John Was a Jazz Giant!Year!Award!Result!
2009Coretta Scott King Award for IllustratorHonor[9] [10]
Golden Kite Award for Picture Book TextHonor[11] [12]
Michigan Great Lakes Great Books Award[13]
2012GA Picture Storybook Award[14]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 19 May 2010 . Before John was a Jazz Giant . 3 June 2024 . . 22 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230922222134/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/carole-boston-weatherford/before-john-was-a-jazz-giant/ . live .
  2. Web site: 1 February 2008 . Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane . 3 June 2024 . . 2 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240602205300/https://www.booklistonline.com/Before-John-Was-a-Jazz-Giant-A-Song-of-John-Coltrane-Carole-Boston-Weatherford/pid=2421374 . live .
  3. Web site: Burner . Joyce Adams . Before John Was a Jazz Giant . 3 June 2024 . . . 3 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240603030010/https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S126C1215529 . live .
  4. Web site: Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane . 2 June 2024 . . en . 3 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240603025851/https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/before-john-was-a-jazz-giant-a-song-of-j-9780805079944j . live .
  5. Web site: Best Books of 2009 . dead . https://archive.today/20141028162629/http://old.chipublib.org/forkids/kidsbooklists/bestofbest_list_2009.php . 28 October 2014 . 28 October 2014 . .
  6. Web site: Summary/reviews . 28 October 2014 . Buffalo Eire County Public Library .
  7. Web site: 2009 Notable Children's Books . 28 October 2014 . . 10 November 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141110040143/http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists/ncb/ncbpastlists/2009ncblist . live .
  8. 2009 . Biography . dead . Notable Social Trade Books for Young People . 3 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140714043038/http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/notable2009_0.pdf . 14 July 2014 . 28 October 2014.
  9. Web site: Coretta Scott King Book Award Recipients . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141108075518/http://www.ala.org/emiert/cskbookawards/recipients . 8 November 2014 . 28 October 2014 . .
  10. Web site: 27 January 2009 . Neil Gaiman Wins Newbery; Beth Krommes Wins Caldecott . 3 June 2024 . . 1 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171001222444/http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=846 . live .
  11. Web site: Past Golden Kite Recipients . 2014-10-28 . Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators . 2021-05-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210516051218/https://www.scbwi.org/awards/golden-kite-award/125854-2/ . dead .
  12. Web site: 2009-03-03 . Awards: Golden Kite Winners; L.A. Times Book Award Nominees . 2024-06-03 . . 2022-12-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221226010946/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=870 . live .
  13. Web site: Michigan Great Lakes' Great Books 2009–2010 (K-1) . 28 October 2014 . pema-bound.com . Perma-Bound School Library . 4 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024818/http://www.perma-bound.com/ViewDetail/1016105-michigan-great-lakes-great-books-2009-2010-k-1 . live .
  14. Web site: 2012–13 Georgia Picture Storybook Award nominees . dead . https://archive.today/20141028162558/http://www.dekalblibrary.org/read-and-grow/2012-13-georgia-picture-storybook-award-nominees.html . 28 October 2014 . 28 October 2014 . .

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