The Horn Book Guide

BIOGRAPHIES

Berman, Kathleen Cornell

Birth of the Cool: How Jazz Great Miles Davis Found His Sound

40 pp. | Page Street | April, 2019 | Trade ISBN 978-1-62414-690-9 $17.99

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Keith Henry Brown. Loose free verse with pared down language picks up on the sounds of Miles Davis's (1926–1991) childhood as he hones the trumpet style that will later make him a jazz great. Text and illustration alike for this picture book biography have an appropriately improvisational feel; Brown's unfinished-looking ink drawings are enhanced by energetic watercolors. Interspersed quotes from Davis in a handwritten font lend immediacy to the text.

Reviewer: Laura Koenig | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019