Before John Was a Jazz Giant
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",[2] 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.'"[1] 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]
Year | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | Coretta Scott King Award for Illustrator | Honor | [9][10] |
Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Text | Honor | [11][12] | |
Michigan Great Lakes Great Books Award | [13] | ||
2012 | GA Picture Storybook Award | [14] |
References
- ^ a b "Before John was a Jazz Giant". Kirkus Reviews. 19 May 2010. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane". Booklist. 1 February 2008. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ Burner, Joyce Adams. "Before John Was a Jazz Giant". School Library Journal. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024 – via Chicago Public Library.
- ^ "Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane". Junior Library Guild. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
- ^ "Best Books of 2009". Chicago Public Library. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ "Summary/reviews". Buffalo Eire County Public Library. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ "2009 Notable Children's Books". Association for Library Service to Children. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ "Biography" (PDF). Notable Social Trade Books for Young People: 3. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ "Coretta Scott King Book Award Recipients". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ "Neil Gaiman Wins Newbery; Beth Krommes Wins Caldecott". Shelf Awareness. 27 January 2009. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ "Past Golden Kite Recipients". Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Archived from the original on 2021-05-16. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
- ^ "Awards: Golden Kite Winners; L.A. Times Book Award Nominees". Shelf Awareness. 2009-03-03. Archived from the original on 2022-12-26. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
- ^ "Michigan Great Lakes' Great Books 2009–2010 (K-1)". pema-bound.com. Perma-Bound School Library. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ "2012–13 Georgia Picture Storybook Award nominees". Dekalb County Public Library. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- v
- t
- e
albums
- Mating Call (with Tadd Dameron)
- Tenor Conclave
- Coltrane
- Interplay
- Wheelin' & Dealin'
- John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio
- Soultrane
- Cattin' with Coltrane and Quinichette
- The Cats (with Tommy Flanagan and Kenny Burrell)
- Lush Life
- Settin' the Pace
- Standard Coltrane
- Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane
- Stardust
- Dakar
- The Believer
- Black Pearls
- Bahia
- The Last Trane
- Two Tenors
albums
- Blue Train
- Coltrane Time
albums
- Giant Steps
- Bags & Trane (with Milt Jackson)
- Coltrane Jazz
- My Favorite Things
- Olé Coltrane
- Coltrane Plays the Blues
- Coltrane's Sound
- The Avant-Garde
albums
- Africa/Brass
- Coltrane
- Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
- Ballads
- Impressions
- John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
- Crescent
- A Love Supreme
- The John Coltrane Quartet Plays
- Ascension
- Meditations
- Kulu Sé Mama
- Expression
- Om
- Cosmic Music (with Alice Coltrane)
- Selflessness: Featuring My Favorite Things
- Transition
- Sun Ship
- Infinity
- Interstellar Space
- The Africa/Brass Sessions, Volume 2
- First Meditations
- Dear Old Stockholm
- Stellar Regions
- Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album
- Blue World
Miles Davis
- Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet
- 'Round About Midnight
- Cookin'
- Relaxin'
- Milestones
- Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants
- Kind of Blue
- Jazz Track
- Workin'
- Steamin'
- Someday My Prince Will Come
- Miles & Monk at Newport
- Basic Miles
- At Newport 1958
- Jazz at the Plaza Vol. I
- 1958 Miles
- Miles Davis Quintet at Peacock Alley
Thelonious Monk
- "Live" at the Village Vanguard
- Live at Birdland
- New Thing at Newport
- Live at the Village Vanguard Again!
- Live in Seattle
- Live in Japan
- Afro Blue Impressions
- The Paris Concert
- The European Tour
- Live Trane: The European Tours
- Bye Bye Blackbird
- Newport '63
- The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings
- The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording
- Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up
- Offering: Live at Temple University
- A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
- Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy
- Alternate Takes
- The Best of John Coltrane
- The Classic Quartet: The Complete Impulse! Recordings
- Coltrane for Lovers
- The Coltrane Legacy
- The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis with John Coltrane
- The Prestige Recordings
- Countdown: The Savoy Sessions
- Dial Africa: The Savoy Sessions
- Feelin' Good
- Gold Coast
- The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings
- High Step
- The Major Works of John Coltrane
- Jupiter Variation
- Ken Burns Jazz: John Coltrane
- The Last Giant: Anthology
- Living Space
- To the Beat of a Different Drum
- Trane's Blues
- Trane's Modes
- "26-2"
- "Alabama"
- "Blue Train"
- "Central Park West"
- "Countdown"
- "Equinox"
- "Giant Steps"
- "Impressions"
- "Lazy Bird"
- "Moment's Notice"
- "Mr. P.C."
- "Naima"
- "Ogunde"
- The Church of Saint Coltrane
- The World According to John Coltrane
- Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary
- List of sessions
- Coltrane changes
- Sheets of sound
- Alice Coltrane (wife)
- Ravi Coltrane (son)
- Philadelphia house
- Dix Hills home
- 5893 Coltrane asteroid
- John W. Coltrane Cultural Society
- Tribute albums
- Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane