If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong [Hardcover]

Roxane Orgill (Author), Leonard Jenkins (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Roxane Orgill's vivid words and Leonard Jenkins's dramatic pictures combine to tell the story of a boy who grew up to be a giant of jazz - the legendary and beloved Louis Armstrong. As a poor boy in New Orleans, where music was everywhere - dancing out of doorways, singing on streetcorners, crying from the cornet of the great Joe Oliver for all to hear - Louis longed for a horn so that he too could sing, bring home pennies, and, most of all, tap happy-feet blues till the sun rose. It wasn't going to be easy. Many things, not all of them good, had to happen before he got his horn. But when at last he did, he sent music spiraling up into the New Orleans night sky like a spinning top gone crazy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Orgill tells the story of a boy overcoming incredible odds to achieve his dream, without becoming too dark, maudlin or even overly hopeful, and Jenkins's dark palette looks the way jazz sounds. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-5. According to an author's note, many stories exist about the esteemed Louis Armstrong, especially in regard to his first encounters with a trumpet. To tell a story that is as "true as possible" to Armstrong's character, Orgill has sifted through his autobiographies and through various biographies to fashion this musically charged tale. Young Louis's love of song and dance is well known in the streets of New Orleans, but his exuberance gets the best of him one wild New Year's Eve, and after shooting an old .38 into the air, he finds himself in the Colored Waifs' Home. There, a Mr. Davis takes an interest; he makes the boy learn rhythm on a drum and practice "mellow tones" on an old bugle before giving him a cornet?but finally, Louis's dream comes true. As the story ends, Louis leads a band down Liberty street and, as we know, marches into musical history. A more hardened tale than Alan Schroeder and Floyd Cooper's admittedly "fictional re-creation" Satchmo's Blues (Doubleday, 1996), this account is probably closer to the truth. Using the two books together, however, could give teachers a great platform for discussing truth in biography. In tune with the text, Jenkins peoples the story with a rich array of faces and backs the characters with montages of swirling colors in acrylic, pastel, and spray paint to create a setting that pulses with the sounds of jazz.?Barbara Elleman, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (September 29, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395759196
• ISBN-13: 978-0395759196
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,015,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent picture book biography of the jazz musician., March 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong (Hardcover)

One of the best picture book biographies I've seen, the rich text and earthy pictures evoke the soul of the jazz artist, pictured here as a boy. A lovely introduction to a jazz master for very young readers from six years and older.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Louis plays the cornet, January 9, 2007

By 

Dominic Powell "dpteacher" (Euless, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong (Hardcover)

This book is a bit long for younger children, but works well for 3-4th graders. If you paraphrase the wording, it might work better to keep the kids' attention. I teach music classes and found this helped the students. There is a part of book that says Louis fired his Uncle's gun off in the street for New Years, so we had to discuss why it was dangerous to do that. Luckily, the book also describes Louis' getting caught by the police in the act. This is a touching story which I hope is true. I'm not sure whether it is or not, but the end is very moving and my students were engaged by it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A possible choice., February 22, 2006

By 

Soprano01 (West Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong (Hardcover)

This book is a good buy if you want to share one of the stories of Louis Armstrong with a child. I reitterate, ONE of the stories. When reading about Louis Armstrong, I have come across three different versions of how Satchmo attained his trumpet/cornet. This story suggests that the band directer at the colored-waiffs home for boys gave him his first cornet. This book is a good portrayal of this book if this is the story you believe. If reading for strictly the purpose of introducing a musical legend and/or instrument to a child, this is a great story. If teaching about the person, I wouldn't rely solely on this tale regarding Louis Armstrong.