Trombone Shorty: A Picture Book Biography

by Troy Andrews, Bryan Collier (Illustrator)

Overview

A Caldecott Honor Book illustrated by Bryan Collier, this picture book true story from Grammy Award nominee Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews is a “well-told and exquisitely illustrated story of a musician with a steep career trajectory will inspire young readers to pursue their passions, despite the challenges.” —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

A Caldecott Honor Book

A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner

“Who’s that playing out there?” Bo Diddley asked the New Orleans crowd. It was a small child who’d been nicknamed “Trombone Shorty” because his trombone was twice as large as he was.

Trombone Shorty was lifted in the air and carried through the audience until he reached the stage with Bo Diddley. He has been onstage ever since. Hailing from the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, where music always floated in the air, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews didn’t always have the money to buy an instrument, but he did have the dream to play music.

This is the story of how he made his dream take flight. It’s a story that will entertain young readers and their parents and resonate with anyone who has had to overcome obstacles to fulfill their dream. It’s sure to be a favorite with jazz and general music lovers, but its message is universal.

Today, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews is a Grammy-nominated musician who tours the world with his band, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. He continues to inspire hope for the next generation in New Orleans and for music lovers everywhere.

You and your children will love having Andrews share his story. Illustrator Bryan Collier brings to life this living legend’s narrative with energy and style, making visible the swirling sounds of jazz.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419714658
Publisher:	Abrams Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/14/2015
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	73,040
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	760L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews is an internationally renowned trombone and trumpet player who leads his band Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. He lives in New Orleans.


Bryan Collier is an acclaimed illustrator who has won three Caldecott Honors and five Coretta Scott King Awards. His books include Martin’s Big Words, Music Is a Rainbow, and Love Is Loud. He lives in Upstate New York.

Editorial Reviews

With amply layered mixed-media art by Collier, this high-spirited book feels like going to a music party.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

★ 02/09/2015
The streets of New Orleans are filled with music, and so is the house of Troy Andrews, who narrates the story of his growth into the musician known as Trombone Shorty. Troy dreams of having his own band, and when he finds a battered trombone, he knows he’s on his way: “It didn’t sound perfect, but finally with a real instrument in my hand, I was ready to play.” He brings it to a Bo Diddley concert, and Diddley brings him onstage. Andrews shares the culture of Tremé, his New Orleans neighborhood, punctuating his story’s high moments with the traditional greeting—“Where y’at?” Collier’s (My Country ’Tis of Thee) collaged illustrations give the story even more joyful power. He paints sound with sunbursts of color, the fragrance of gumbo with misty swirls, and Troy’s dreams about the future with bubbles that rise from his bed as he sleeps with his arm around his trombone. If a fairy tale were set in New Orleans, this is how it would read. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Marcia Wernick, Wernick & Pratt. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Sharp panels of color and image, perspective that dips and soars, and layers of mixed-media collage unite to feel like renditions of brass band music itself."

Booklist - Amina Chaudhri

"Collier’s expressive watercolor collages layer and texture each page, creating a mix of images that echo the combination of styles Andrews uses to create his own “musical gumbo'...Read this one aloud to capture the sounds and sights of Trombone Shorty’s New Orleans."

The Horn Book Magazine

"The storytelling is imbued with a touch of storybook glamour and generous humor...Collier’s vibrant mixed-media illustrations ably complement the text with a skillful melding of paint and photo collage that underscore the “gumbo” of street sounds and musical styles that influence Andrews’ works."

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

04/01/2015
Gr 1–4—"Where y'at?" Troy Andrews, aka Trombone Shorty, opens his book with this phrase, letting readers know that it's New Orleans parlance for hello. In this stunning picture book autobiography, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Andrews shares the story of his early years growing up in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans. Andrews desperately wished to emulate the musicians in his family and those he saw performing all over his city, so he and his friends made their own instruments out of found materials, played in the streets, and marched with bands. When one day he found a battered, discarded trombone bigger than he was, Andrews finally had a real instrument to play, and he practiced day and night, acquiring the nickname Trombone Shorty from his older brother. The moment Bo Diddley pulled Andrews on stage to play with him during the New Orleans jazz festival was a turning point, and he hasn't stopped performing since. Collier's beautiful watercolor, pen-and-ink, and collage artwork picks up the rhythm and pace of Andrew's storytelling, creating an accompaniment full of motion and color. Each spread offers a visual panoply of texture, perspective, and angles, highlighting the people and the instruments. Andrews's career is still on the rise, his music gaining an ever wider audience, and this title will be an inspiration to many. VERDICT Coupled with a selection of Trombone Shorty's music, this work will make for fun and thoughtful story sharing. A must-have.—Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA

School Library Journal

★ 2015-01-20
An autobiographical tale of a young man who started making "musical gumbo" at age 4. Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews relates how he grew up in Tremé in New Orleans, American's oldest black neighborhood, where he heard music everywhere. Young Troy admires his big brother's trumpet playing and makes music without instruments with his friends. After finding a discarded trombone, the little boy teaches himself to play. Troy narrates: "I was so small that sometimes I fell right over…because it was so heavy." (Despite Collier's illustrations of young "Shorty," nothing prepares readers for his size in the parade photograph in the backmatter.) When Bo Diddley hears him playing in the crowd at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the jazz great invites him to the stage. An author's note explains that Troy started a band at age 6 and joined Lenny Kravitz's band at 19. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, his band, tours the world, and Troy shares New Orleans music and culture through his foundation and music academy. Employing his unmistakable mixed-media collage images, Collier portrays the story of this living legend with energy and style, making visible the swirling sounds of jazz. This well-told and exquisitely illustrated story of a musician with a steep career trajectory will inspire young readers to pursue their passions, despite the challenges. (illustrator's note) (Picture book/biography. 4-8)

Kirkus Review

"This well-told and exquisitely illustrated story of a musician with a steep career trajectory will inspire young readers to pursue their passions, despite the challenges."

From the Publisher

Music featuring a single trombone precedes Dion Graham’s narration of this picture-book autobiography by "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, a New Orleans native and Grammy Award-nominated musician. Then, the first words of the audiobook—“Where y’at?”—greet listeners with an energetic New Orleans welcome. Graham draws listeners of all ages into an experience that’s lyrical in word, illustration, and music. His dynamic reading blends with Andrews’s words and music to dramatize everything from Shorty’s weak initial efforts on the trombone to the crowds who roar with pleasure as he shares the stage with Bo Diddley. Andrews refers to creating "a musical gumbo," and the metaphor represents this audiobook perfectly. There is the richness, variety, and spice of this New Orleans dish in Bryan Collier’s mixed-media illustrations, the vocal range of Graham’s reading, and the lively music and animated soundscape. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2017 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2017 - AudioFile