Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane

When John was younger he would listen to music from different instruments. He was surrounded by music and enjoyed every bit of it. One day he picked up a horn and began playing. Despite being made fun of he did what he loved and that was music. This is great to show children to show them what influenced john to play. It is beautifully illustratred and keeps a child interested. ( )

Before John was a Jazz Giant, written by Carole Weatherford and illustrated by Sean Qualls, won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator award in 2009. Qualls uses dark, soulful colors to set the mood of the story following a jazz great. Weatherford tells the story of all the sounds John Coltrane encountered, before he became a “jazz giant,” that exposed him to music. Qualls uses geometric shapes and lines throughout the story. John is always surrounded by circles which signifies the sounds of a trumpet, first in his head and then eventually out of the trumpet. Qualls did a great job having John center the page and all the sounds surround him. It allows young readers to interpret that sounds surround John and them everywhere.

This a book describing the childhood of the Jazz Musician John Coltrane. Along with unique and beautiful artwork, this story has a very familiar repeating pattern that kids will enjoy. It talks of the familiar sounds John heard every day in his home and environment and how he associated that into his music. I would definitely put this book into my teaching collection. ( )

The book has repetition in it that is good for children that are just learning to read. The author sub line message is the importance of listening. The book can also be used for any elementary level. The words chosen are not difficult and easy to comprehend. ( )

This book is about Jazz singer John Coltrane and so Qualls illustrate are made to look like Africa art of that area. Quall used a lot of dark colors, with many circles in each picture. The pictures bring an almost musical style to the text, dancing out to the reader. ( )