Little Melba and Her Big Trombone

We love, love, LOVE this story. The way it's told is brilliant, as the author subtly weaves in terms and expressions that would have been used during that period of the 1930's. The words sing on the page the same as Melba's trombone.I learned something new from reading this and really enjoyed sharing it with my children who continue to ask for it. The illustrations are fantastic, like a collection of colorful, childlike oil paintings and they perfectly convey the feelings of the main character as she grows and faces new challenges from learning to master her trombone, to moving across the country, to being called names, and finally to facing racial discrimination.By the end of the story you want to cheer for her for never giving up on her one, true passion - her trombone. Melba crossed the lines of race and gender to bring her amazing music to the world. There's a fact page at the back of the book that's perfect for teachers who want to use this in their classrooms or for the curious child who wants to know more. I haven't been this impressed with a non-fiction picture book featuring an African American character since Henry's Freedom Box came out. Little Melba and Her Big Trombone is sure to become a classic.

As an adult musician (trombonist) this is a delightful, inspiring story with wonderful artwork.

Love a story about the joy of a black girl and it was a true story. It set a positive image and helped children to see the resilience about black culture. It’s a bit long for the age I picked for but would like to work with the book for many times.

Cute story. It’s a little bit long so my 3yo doesn’t have the patience for it but my 5yo enjoys the story. The pictures are really cute too

Me and my daughter enjoyed this book. Excise it is a biography we were able to look up Melba Liston and put a real person to the story. It’s an encouraging story for girls to follow their dreams.

My kid loves this book and wants to read it every night.

Katheryn Russell-Brown has written a wonderful book for young children about a great but unsung jazz musician. She brings to life the remarkable story of Melba Liston who started playing the trombone as a young child and went on to play with some of the greatest jazz musicians in American history. The book's afterward includes original photographs of Melba Liston and provides interesting details about her extraordinary life. This book will be enjoyed by family members of all ages.

Wonderful book for my music loving kiddo. Pictures and story are beautiful and I feel so proud everytime my 2 year old requests the story of Melba and her trombone. Thrilled to see people writing children’s stories of important people in our history.

I really love this book. Its not just about the little brown girl who took up an unusual musical instrument - the trombone - and ran with it. but she also continued to become an all round composer, director and arranger - a professional musician. Its about the way the story is written for children. The illustrations are stunning. The colours captivating. I would love a similar poster to put on my wall.My only tiny minus is the Dust Jacket. Such a waste of paper. Children usually damage these very quickly and I personally don't like dust jackets they are in my opinion utterly unnecessary. So I have taken off a point for that.However the book is a treasure. There should be a series celebrating the lives of these female musicians who were pioneers in their field.

Book is beautiful but arrived damaged. A little bit disappointed.