Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra

Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra
Written by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Illustrated by Brian Pinkney
Caldecott Honor Book 1999

This book is a children’s picture book biography about Duke Ellington and his orchestra.

My son (age 9) and I attempted to read this book together. He had a hard time following what the author was trying to say and the different musical pictures the author was trying to paint using words from the jazz era (like “sassy cool tones”). He was not familiar with any of the terms. The alternative I found to help him understand the book was United Streaming. United Streaming is a digital video on demand service. United Streaming had taken this book and set it to music. The same story and the detailed scratchboard illustrations were used, but music (most of it Duke Ellington’s actual music) that matched the text was added such as “left-handed hops and right-handed slides.” It made the book absolutely unforgettable. This book accompanied with the United Streaming video will be a great way to introduce Duke Ellington and his orchestra and jazz music to my 4th and 5th grade library patrons. My positive reaction to this book was influenced by the fact that I play the piano and love listening to as well as playing jazz music.

This same author and illustrator (husband and wife) collaborated on other similar African-American biography books that include the following: Dear Benjamin Banneker, Ella Fitzgerald : The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa, and Bill Pickett: Rodeo-Ridin' Cowboy. Each one is written with the language of the time period interwoven in the text and beautiful detailed illustrations.

This book proves that biographies can be written as interesting children’s picture books.