Who Was Louis Armstrong? by Yona Zeldis McDonough is an outstanding book that captures the essence of Louis Armstrong's life, soul, and his music. This is no easy job. Lots of wonderful personal details and great sketches. Over 100 pages of info to delight. Loved this book best in the series. A true rags to riches, poor man to fame story. A book not just for kids, adults will love this book too. ( )

The life of musician and icon Louis Armstrong is explored at a kids level, focusing mostly on his early life up to the 1930s. Armstrong grew up in poverty in New Orleans and spent time in a reform school although he claimed that it saved him as it introduced him to the cornet. Armstrong is celebrated both for his musical talent and innovation and for breaking down barriers for black people. It's an interesting book about a fascinating person, and it doesn't shy away from some of the nuances of race such as when critics called him an "Uncle Tom." ( )

This is a biographical early chapter book about Louis Armstrong. In the beginning, it gives a brief summary of Armstrong's life, then moves onto more details throughout the rest of the chapters, talking about major life events - being sent to a reform school - and his journey to becoming a great jazz musician, including how he got some of his most famous nicknames. This is a fantastic biography book becuase it gives very interesting details about Armstrong's life in addition to some great illustrations. This whole collection of books - the Who Was?, What Was?, and Where Is? books - are great quality informational books for kids because they are made interestingly and short enough to keep a kid's attention. I would definitely use any of these books in my classroom when studying a famous person or landmark. The illustrations are pencil drawings.

"Who was Louis Armstrong," which is part of the "Who Was" series by Grosset and Dunlap publishers, did not bother me in the way that many of these mass-produced children's series books do. There are some glaring issues, such as the text repeating itself, and a lack of focused sourcing. The author, Yona Zeldis McDonough, however offers very easy to read, accessible text that serves as a suitable portrait of the great musician's life. It is not an ideal reference for children (underwhelming table of contents, lack of glossary or index, no source notes, etc.), but the writing is smooth and its his story in a complete fashion. Also, I really love John O’Brien’s illustrations. They are nothing special, but the informal black and white appeal to something in me I can't quite define; maybe their rudimentary nature just kind of feels like jazz and New Orleans. Overall, it’s a decent book; I would recommend it for a parent to read to his or her child before bed. ( )