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

Summary of Book

Young John Coltrane was all ears. And there was a lot to hear growing up in the South in the 1930s: preachers praying, music on the radio, the bustling of the household. These vivid noises shaped John's own sound as a musician. Carole Boston Weatherford and Sean Qualls have composed an amazingly rich hymn to the childhood of jazz legend John Coltrane.

Before John Was a Jazz Giant is a 2009 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book and a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Author Biography

Carole Boston Weatherford is the award-winning author of more than 50 books of poetry, nonfiction, and children's literature. She resides in North Carolina where she teaches at Fayetteville State University. She is the author of three Caldecott Honor Books, including Freedom in Congo Square.

Illustrator Biography

Sean Qualls illustrated the widely acclaimed biographies The Poet Slave of Cuba and Dizzy. He lives with his wife and son in Brooklyn, New York.