When he was a boy, Edward Kennedy Ellington's first love was baseball. At his parents' insistence, he took piano lessons and, by the time he was 19, music was his passion. He was able to earn his living by playing his own compositions -- a type of music no one had ever heard before. This picture book biography focuses not so much on the events in Duke Ellington's life, but on his music, his orchestra, his skill with improvisation, and his impact in the world of jazz. Andrea Davis Pinkney's text grabs young listeners with its jazzy beat. Her playful use of language echoes the era in which Duke was king. Like the words they accompany, Brian Pinkney's spirited scratchboard illustrations swing with joyful vitality as they show the effect Ellington's music has had on listeners, past and present. Winner, 1998 CCBC Coretta Scott King Award Discussion: Illustrator; Honor Book, 1998 CCBC Coretta Scott King Award Discussion: Author. (Ages 6-10)

"Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, "King of the Keys," was born on April 29, 1899, in Washington, D.C. "He was a smooth-talkin', slick-steppin', piano-playin' kid," writes master wordsmith Andrea Pinkney in the rhythmic, fluid, swinging prose of this excellent biography for early readers. It was ragtime music that first "set Duke's fingers to wiggling." He got back to work and taught himself to "press on the pearlies." Soon 19-year-old Duke was playing compositions "smoother than a hairdo sleeked with pomade" at parties, pool halls, country clubs, and cabarets. Skipping from D.C. to 1920s Harlem, "the place where jazz music ruled," Duke and his small band called the Washingtonians began performing in New York City clubs, including the Cotton Club, where Duke Ellington and his Orchestra was officially born. By 1943, Duke Ellington--writer of more than 1000 compositions, including ballet and film scores, orchestral suites, musicals, and choral works--had made it all the way to Carnegie Hall. We applaud this talented husband-and-wife team--award-winning illustrator Brian Pinkney and writer Andrea Pinkney--for making music fly in this fantastic tribute to a jazz legend. Andrea does an extraordinary job of translating music into words, with blues "deeper than the deep blue sea" and "hot-buttered bob, with lots of sassy-cool tones," while her husband visually interprets the movement of music as spirals, waves, and swirls of color, prepared as scratchboard renderings with luma dyes, gouache, and oil paint. Andrea writes, "Toby let loose on his sleek brass sax, curling his notes like a kite tail in the wind. A musical loop-de-loop, with a serious twist," while Brian paints those curling notes, the loop-de-loops, and the kite sailing up to the New York City skyline. Young readers will enjoy the rhythm and beauty of the story itself, and may even be inspired to give Raffi a rest and swing with the Duke! (Great read-aloud, ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson, Amazon.com Kids editor"--Lexile.com.