Regardless of whether they’ve heard of jazz or Art Tatum, young readers will appreciate how Parker uses simple, lyrical storytelling and colorful and energetic ink-and-wash illustrations to show the world as young Art Tatum might have seen it. Tatum came from modest beginnings and was nearly blind, but his passion for the piano and his acute memory for any sound that he heard drove him to become a virtuoso who was revered by both classical and jazz pianists alike. Included in the back matter is a biography and bibliography.

Robert Andrew Parker has illustrated numerous acclaimed books for children, includingthe Caldecott Honor Book Popcorn and Ma Goodness by Edna Mitchell Preston, the BostonGlobe–Horn Book Award winner Cold Feet by Cynthia DeFelice, and Action Jackson byJan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, which received six starred reviews and was an RobertF. Sibert Honor Book. Mr. Parker is a jazz musician.He lives in West Cornwall, Connecticut.