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.

Carole Boston Weatherford is the award-winning author of more than 50 books of poetry, nonfiction, and children's literature. She is the recipient of a Newbery Honor, Coretta Scott King Author Honor, two NAACP Image Awards, a WNDB Walter Award, and numerous other accolades. Her books include I, Matthew Henson; Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive; and Be a King. She resides in North Carolina where she teaches at Fayetteville State University.
cbweatherford.com