Little Melba and Her Big Trombone

Review
By BookDragon, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center

Thank goodness Florida law professor Katheryn Russell-Brown decided to teach the children early about this vanguard genius (and multi-culti superpublisher Lee & Low gave her the platform). As groundbreaking as her performances were, the rest of Melba’s life was no perfect fairy tale. What Russell-Brown’s text mentions, illustrator Frank Morrison enhances. Morrison also knows how to add soul-soothing rhythm to the page: take that cover with young Melba barely grown enough to hold that instrument, then compare it to the final double-page spread in which an adult Melba takes the same leaned-waaay-back, feel-the-stirring-sounds stance decades later and wows a sold-out audience of thousands*.

*{: style=”mso-bidi-font-style:normal”}Read the full review here.
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