Little Melba and Her Big Trombone - Hardcover

by Katheryn Russell-Brown (Author), Frank Morrison (Illustrator)

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Honor - American Library Association (ALA)
NAACP Image Awards Nominee - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

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, of any race, played brass instruments and were part of the jazz scene.

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 age 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 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.

Author Biography

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 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.