A lyrical picture book biography of John Coltrane that focuses on his
childhood.
Young John Coltrane was all ears. And there was a lot to hear, growing
up in the south during the 1930s: church songs, preachers praying, music
on the radio, and the bustling of the household. John was surrounded by
all kinds of vivid noises that shaped his own sound as a musician. With
vibrant words and glowing colors, Carole Boston Weatherford and Sean
Qualls compose 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.