Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown, illustrated by Frank Morrison

Lee & Low Books

Rating: 5 stars

Author Katheryn Russell-Brown starts out with a big promise in this nonfiction picture book: "Spread the word! Melba Doretta Liston was something special!"

She is definitely right. Little Melba definitely was something special.

Melba loved music, lived for music, breathed music--even when she was asleep and dreaming. She watched her aunties dance, she cupped her ear to the Majestic, she daydreamed of notes and chords. She signed up for a music class at seven, but that wasn't enough. When she stepped into her first music store, she saw a long, funny-looking horn. A trombone. She didn't really know what it was or how to play it--she just thought it looked cool. It was enormous for the small girl, but she insisted. Her mother couldn't say no. So, Melba got her first trombone. And Melba started playing.

She tried to push out the slide, but her arm was too short.
She had to tilt her head sideways and stretch out her right arm.

She needed help playing it at first; Grandpa John had to help her hold it. Before long, though, she taught herself to play and was strong enough to hold the trombone and play it on her own. She was only eight when the local radio station invited her to play a solo on air. (How cool is that?!)

Hard times hit her family in 1937 and Melba and her mother moved from Kansas City to Los Angelos. She found a talented band of kids to join, but jealousy ran in some of the kids' veins and they said rude things. Yet Melba still played.

When she was seventeen, she was invited to tour the country with a new band led by trumpet player Gerald Wilson. She visited cities all over and received rave reviews. She was the only female in the band, and some of the men were often rude to her, pretending as if she wasn't there. She visited towns unfriendly to "people with dark skin" and Melba sometimes had to sleep on her tour bus. Yet Melba still played.

Finally, the world knew of her greatness--her "something special"--and she toured the world and dazzled audiences by herself.

The illustrations by Frank Morrison are really my favorite part of this book. They are gorgeous and convey such a sense of movement and richness...I'm not sure how he does it but he really did Melba a huge service by illustrating her with such charisma and cool.

It was fun to walk in Melba's shoes for a little while as my kids and I read this book together. I found some clips on youtube to play for my kids as they ate their breakfast on a dark winter morning before school. None of us could imagine making an instrument sing so well at such a young age--or any age, for that matter. "Wow," was just about all we could say as we listened quietly and respectfully to one woman who definitely was something special.

When the Beat Was Born by Laban Carrick Hill

When the Beat Was Born: DJ Cook Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Theodore Taylor, III


Rating: 4 stars

Ben is sure he can breakdance, so I figured this book was perfect for him.  I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone to grab it; I don't know anything about DJ Kool Herc and my favorite station is country, not hip-hop.  But that's one of the best things about books: you can easily read about and learn something totally and completely new.

Even a picture book!

DJ Kool Herc was born as plain old "Clive," and was living in Kingstown, Jamaica, when he realized he had a big, deep love for music.  "He loved the way the music made his feet go hip hip hop, hippity hop."  Right in his neighborhood there was someone else who loved music like Clive: a DJ nicknamed "King George."  Clive was too young to watch King George perform at parties, but Clive watched him set up and listened to the music from afar.

When he was 13, Clive moved to New York City with his family.  He didn't fit in anywhere except the basketball court, where he quickly got the nickname Hercules because of his tall frame.  Clive cut that name in half and added "Kool" and he was quickly called Kool Herc more often than Clive.  Around that same time, his father bought a stereo system with enormous speakers.  Clive thought the sound coming from them should be bigger, deeper, richer.  So he spent time rearranging the wires until the sound matched what he thought should come out of them.

DJ Kool Herc noticed that dancers danced crazy hard during
the breaks in the song when the lyrics ended and the music
bumped and thumped.

And then, he and his sister did what any teenagers would do in that era, with their moxie and new huge sound system (I guess!): they threw a big party, and Clive performed, for the first time, as DJ Kool Herc.  Not only did he give his dancers a "hip hip hop, hippity hop beat" to dance to, he also sang/rhymed out their names and what they were doing on the dance floor.  The coolest dancers--he called them break-dancers or b-boys--showed up to do what my kids call them "rad moves." People soon lined up around the block to get in.

With that first party and the others that followed, Kool Herc became a sensation as DJ Kool Herc.

Okay, confession time: I really am unclear about what a DJ does. I don't really know what a turntable is.  I still read this book to Lorelei and Ben and fielded their good, honest questions as best as I could.  I don't really know what a turntable is.  Sometimes I worry that they'll look back and roll their eyes and ask, "Mom, do you know anything?!" (Ben is asking me lots of sports questions these days and MAN I'm lucky to get one out of ten right!)  But I'd rather not be limited by my knowledge and limit them by my limited knowledge.

I'm not afraid to say, "I don't know!  Let's find out the answer together."

Drummer Boy by Loren Long

 Drummer Boy by Loren Long

Rating: 5 stars

Some families choose grocery stores for the quality of their produce.  Others choose one for low prices.  Our family?  I like grocery stores that have a nice selection of books.  Last night the trio and I found ourselves at Wegmans (which I actually like for all three reasons); in between the produce and dairy departments we had a pit-stop at the book shop. Lorelei and Ben were sprawled out way too comfortably on the floor reading Curious George books, and I found Drummer Boy, which I thought was just the song with illustrations by one of my favorite illustrators, Loren Long.  I put it in my cart without reading it.

In case you didn't know, Loren Long is the illustrate President Obama chose to illustrate his book, Of Thee I Sing.  When the President wants you, you know you're good.  But he was fantastic before (and after) that--his grand illustrations are sweeping beauties that pull you in completely.  Read all of my review of his books by clicking here.  Plus he has a weimaraner, like us.  (His is probably more well-behaved...maybe he wants two more...hmmm...)

When I got home, after the groceries were put away and the kids were asleep, I read it.  This book might be my favorite Christmas book of all time.

A boy receives a mystery gift on his doorstep some weeks before Christmas: a drummer boy.  "Just what I wanted," he says, and the drummer boy's heart feels warm.  After some days of drumming for the boy, the tail of the boy's dog sweeps the drummer boy into the trash, and he gets taken away into the back of a garbage truck.

The drummer boy is stunned and sad to find himself in a heap of trash, with a rat snarling at him.  But he plays for the rat...

Boom pum pum boom pum,Boom pum pum boom bum,Boom pat pat boom pat,Boom pat pat boom tat.

The owls grew quiet and drifted off to sleep.

The rat's snarl softens as he listens, but suddenly an owl swoops in and picks up the drummer boy.  When delivered to her nest, hungry baby owl beaks squawk at him.

Boom pum pum boom pum,Boom pum pum boom bum,Boom pat pat boom pat,Boom pat pat boom tat.

They fall asleep to the now-comforting sound of the drum.  After several other trips-turned-concerts, a raccoon carries him to a cemetery   The drummer boy is colder and lonelier than ever; he feels quite lost and very sad.  He feels that the statues and stones are surrounding him are waiting, waiting.  "So, with a heavy heart, he plays his drum for them."

Boom pum pum boom pum,Boom pum pum boom bum,Boom pat pat boom pat,Boom pat pat boom tat.

The next morning, after a heavy snowfall--you can only see the tip of the drummer boy's hat in yet another gorgeous illustration--the little boy comes to deliver a poinsettia to the gravestone in front of the drummer.  "Merry Christmas, Grandpa," he says quietly.  And, delighted, he finds his drummer boy.  They return home together, and the little boy places the drummer boy in his family's nativity scene, next to baby Jesus.

Boom pum pum boom pum,Boom pum pum boom bum,Boom pat pat boom pat,Boom pat pat boom tat.

And the drummer boy's heart feels very warm.

I have never found a children's book that is a better lesson on giving--on giving what you have (which can often be so little) so selflessly.  It is a beautiful story and the message, so moving.  The drummer boy is taken--helpless to move himself, he never has a choice whether to stay or go--from one place to the next.  Always, at first he feels alone, but when he finds someone to whom he can give this gift of music (or maybe it is with whom he should share it?), his heart is warmed.

It is so very appropriate that this book was tucked among beets and tomatoes and strawberries, chicken and steak and milk.  All those things nourish us, as do books.  The lessons within this particular book last so much longer as we teach and re-teach it to our children, and learn and re-learn it ourselves.

Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton

 Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton, illustrated by Eric Puybaret

Rating: 4 stars

"You bought our kids a stoner book?!" my husband said when he saw this book.

"It has such a sad ending!" my mother said when I told her I bought it.

This book sure has a bad reputation!  I guess that's exactly why I hadn't even thought to read it to Lorelei or Ben.  Until, that is, my cousin Stephanie suggested that I put it on my mother's shelf for all her grandkids to read.  I thought it was worth checking out.  So I did.  Literally.

I got the big book from the library, a book full of fantasy-filled illustrations, done by the talented Eric Puybaret.  The book was big--an oversized hardback--but the pictures on the pages made the book seem even bigger.  I won't quit my (unpaid) day job to sing, but I admit I can carry a tune just fine.  My kids like to hear me sing, so they were spellbound when I sang the book to them, and turned the pages of this beautiful book as the verses floated around them.

The song made the book a different experience for them, and Lorelei has been humming the tune a lot, looking for the book to fill in the blanks when she forgets the words.  ("I don't want to sing it like you do, Mommy: 'Little Jackie Paper, something something something..."  She is so right.  I always forget the words to songs!)

Puff, the magic dragon, / lived by the sea,
And frolicked in the autumn mist / in a land called Honalee.

I don't really get why this children's book is linked to some illegal substance, but my mom is right--this book definitely does have a sad twist.  After Puff and Jackie Paper frolic and imagine and play in a way only a child and his imaginary friend can, Jackie Paper grows up.  He goes away, never to return again, and Puff is lonely.

But illustrator Eric Puybaret saves the day and keeps Grammy's tears at bay.  In the last two pages, he paints in a young girl who clearly replaces the turned-into-a-muggle Jackie.  Puff is happy again with his new playmate, new adventures, new cycle of childhood.

I think that Steph is right, this is a great addition to your shelf, especially if you can carry a tune and can sing it to your children.  Pick up the board book version at your local Wegmans while grocery shopping, just like I did yesterday.

Once Upon an Ordinary School Day by Colin McNaughton

 Once Upon an Ordinary School Day by Colin McNaughton, illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura

Rating: 5 extraordinary stars

After the first page, I really didn't like this book.  Here's the first page (bear with me):

Once upon an ordinary school day, an ordinary boy woke up from his ordinary dreams, got out of his ordinary bed, had an ordinary pee and an ordinary bath, put on his ordinary clothes, and ate his ordinary breakfast.   

The ordinary boy brushed his ordinary teeth, kissed his ordinary mom goodbye, and set off for his ordinary school.

There are two more pages like that.  When you read that out loud, that's a whole lot of "ordinarys."  I was thinking: This is going to be a long book.

But from the get-go, the illustrations are beautiful and quirky and fun.  Those on the first three pages are all in black and white.

And then, on page three, an extraordinary figure bounds into the classroom.  It's Mr. Gee, a new teacher, and he's got an idea for a lesson that will help him get to know the students, and help the students get to know him.  He puts some music on and wants the kids to let the music make pictures in their heads.

Oh, and the illustrations are so great!  The extraordinary Mr. Gee is in color, but all the ordinary stuff is still in black and white.

And as the music swooped and danced and dived
once more,the ordinary boy began to write.

So he puts on the music, and everyone draws and writes what they hear.  They interpret the music so differently and wonderfully!  The main ordinary boy draws of elephants stampeding and a whole safari of animals and then a deep sea adventure and then of flying over gorgeous lands.  All in color, of course.

At the end of the day the little boy compliments the teacher on the lesson: "That was the best lesson ever!" (I love this kudos giving from little to big.)  Mr. Gee wonderfully replies: "I can't wait to read your story tonight."  I love the genuine interest the teacher has in the boy.

In a different chapter of my life, I was student body president of my college (feel free to chuckle!).  I gave a speech to all the faculty and staff once before the academic year began challenging them to be memorable to at least one student.  Isn't that what it's all about?  Taking the time and energy and risk to make an impression and helping somebody grow.  I hope that my kids are lucky enough to have a handful of teachers who care enough to have lessons like these, to help them grow and stretch and learn.

This is like a pint-sized, less-sad, book version of Dead Poets Society, which is one of my favorite movies.  And honestly, it's made me think a little more about teaching in my next chapter of life.  What fun it'd be to make a difference in other kids' lives.  Hmm.  Something to consider...

Anyway, a FANTASTIC book.  Lucky us to have found it on display at our library.  Thank you, librarians!

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins, illustrated by Eric Gurney

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins, illustrated by Eric Gurney

Rating: 5 perfect stars

This is Kiefer's favorite book.  His very first favorite book, hopefully of many.  He LOVES it.  How do I know it?  He will go over to the book, flip through it, and his entire body will shake up and down as he "dances" to the rhythm that he knows exists in the pages.  (How I hope that he always dances with his whole body!  Why just tap a toe?)

I read this to him over and over again during his first year, taking his hands and tapping out the beat on his own head, on my nose, on the book itself, on his lap...wherever.  As I read I would pat his back or his toes or my hands.  It is the perfect book to make a baby fall in love with books--it is fun and cheery and silly.  Not the best bedtime book--I am guilty of riling my kids and other kids up at bedtime or anytime--but that never stopped me from reading it at bedtime.


This book is always included in my gift baskets to new parents.  It is unknown enough that I'm not worried about duplicates; I'll leave it to others to buy Goodnight Moon.  While other people are reading about mush and old ladies whispering "hush," my friends will be smiling with their kids, helping their babies learn how to love books, one book at a time.

Henry the Steinway: A Star is Born by Ally Coveleskie and Peter Goodrich

Henry the Steinway: A Star is Born by Ally Coveleskie and Peter Goodrich, illustrated by Laura Friedman

Rating: 3 stars

And now, from left field, a children's book about pianos, read by a family without any members who play a piano.

But Lorelei insisted that it looked like a good book the last time we were in the library, so we checked it out and read it a few times.  It's a little odd...the pianoes' faces are a bit quirky, a bit creepy if you asked me.  But there's a point to them: each piano is unique (I never knew that), even ones that were made at the same factory on the same day in the same style.  So, at concert halls, there's a whole brigade of pianos from which visiting pianists choose when they perform.  That's kind of neat.

The story is how Henry arrived at the family whose house is now his home, and also a story about how pianos are made.  I won't be checking out the sequel, but for those of you out there with budding pianists in the house, it might be worth reading.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow by E.Y. Harburg

Somewhere Over the Rainbow words by E.Y. Harburg, illustrated by Eric Puybaret

Rating: 3.5 stars

I love the New York Times. We just get the Sunday edition; it often takes me till Wednesday to get through the sections I want to read. (I admit I read Styles and the Book Review before the front page.) I think their recommendations for books for adults are wonderful, and I love reading reviews of books (am sure this is a shocking revelation for all those reading this book review right now).

But the Children's Bestseller's List is just an odd collection. I think it should be renamed Children's Books that Grandparents/Other People Think Kids Would Like. Because I think most of the books that appear on the list are gift books that are truly beautiful and kids would appreciate with age, but they are often not ones that will become dog-eared, chewed-up, taped-all-over "Velveteen rabbits" of books.

Like this one.  It is gorgeous, and grandmothers all over the country will swoon over it, remembering when they swayed to the song when they were younger, and wishing that their granddaughters would enjoy it as much as they did.  It is a wonderful song:

Somewhere over the rainbow

Way up high,

There's a land that I heard of

Once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the rainbow

Skies are blue,

And the dreams that you dare to dream

Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star

And wake up where the clouds are far

Behind me.

Where troubles melt like lemon drops

way above the chimney tops

That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow

Bluebirds fly.

Birds fly over the rainbow.

Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow

Why, oh why can't I?

But WHO is going to sing this one out loud to their children??!  Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star this is not.  Here's the short line up of women who could pull off this song: Judy Garland, Katherine McPhee, and my mom.

Oh, wait.  Maybe that's the point.  Maybe ALL kids think that their very own mothers were on this short list?  Oh all right.  I guess it can stay on the best seller's list, then. 


P.S.  In case you're not Judy, Katherine, or my mom, the book comes with a CD.