Readers will agree that “Melba Doretta Liston was something special.” (Picture book.

An impressive discography complements a two-page afterword and a thorough bibliography. In one thrilling spread, the evening gown–clad instrumentalist stands over the male musicians, her slide crossing the gutter while the back bow disappears off the page to the left. Morrison’s sinuous, exaggerated lines are the perfect match for Melba’s story she puts her entire body into her playing, the exaggerated arch of her back and thrust of her shoulders mirroring the curves of her instrument. Russell-Brown’s debut text has an innate musicality, mixing judicious use of onomatopoeia with often sonorous prose. But joy carries the day, and the story ends on a high note, with Melba “dazzling audiences and making headlines” around the world. Both text and illustrations make it clear that it’s not all easy for Melba “The Best Service for WHITES ONLY” reads a sign in a hotel window as the narrative describes a bigotry-plagued tour in the South with Billie Holiday. Picking up the trombone at 7, the little girl teaches herself to play with the support of her Grandpa John and Momma Lucille, performing on the radio at 8 and touring as a pro at just 17.

4-8)īewitched by the rhythms of jazz all around her in Depression-era Kansas City, little Melba Doretta Liston longs to make music in this fictional account of a little-known jazz great. Deserving of a special place with Claire Nivola’s Planting the Trees of Kenya (2008), this is, in a word, stunning. In addition to incorporating the fabric collages (and some whimsy in his animal depictions), the artist newly focuses on landscape, with many double-page spreads depicting undulating fields, distant mountains and a white-hot sky. The richly modulated oils portray the dignified, intent gazes of Maathai and other Kenyans, and the illustrator’s signature use of perspective suggests the everyday heroism of his subjects. Nelson’s pictures, a jaw-dropping union of African textiles collaged with oil paintings, brilliantly capture the villagers’ clothing and the greening landscape. Thayu nyumba-peace, my people.” Specific tree species and their utility are mentioned in the text and reiterated in a glossary. When, one after the other, women journey to Maathai to seek counsel about scarce food, disappearing firewood and ailing animals, she tells them, “Plant a tree…. Napoli adopts a folkloric narrative technique to showcase the life work of Wangari Maathai, whose seminal role in Kenya’s reforestation earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

Mama Miti by Donna Jo Napoli