Most Popular Books by Gary Golio

Discover the childhood story of Carlos Santana in Gary Golio''s Sound of the Heart, Song of the World, featuring illustrations by Rudy Gutierrez, the internationally celebrated artist who created the iconic Carlos Santana Shaman CD cover. Carlos Santana grew up surrounded by music. His father, a beloved mariachi performer, teaches his son how to play the violin when he is only six years old. But when Carlos discovers American blues, he is captivated by the raw honesty of the music. Unable to think of anything else, he loses all interest in the violin. When Carlos finally receives his first guitar, his whole life begins to change. From his early exposure to mariachi to his successful fusing of rock, blues, jazz, and Latin influences, here is the childhood story of a legendary musician. Christy Ottaviano Books

A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book A Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Best Picture Book of the Year A Kirkus Best Picture Book Biography CCBC Choices 2025 A Kirkus Reviews Most Anticipated Book of 2024 The New York Public Library Best Books for Kids 2024 (Top 10) A child of the Harlem Renaissance and an artistic collaborator of Langston Hughes, Roy DeCarava is an unsung hero of Black history. Convinced that the lives of ordinary Black people deserved to be immortalized and documented in photos, Roy celebrated Black people through his art, a process that the incomparable author Gary Golio and illustrator E. B. Lewis capture in this beautiful picture book. ★ Kirkus Reviews, starred review ★ Publishers Weekly, starred review ★ Shelf Awareness, starred review ★ The Bulletin of the Center for Children''s Books, starred review “Life is how you look at it.” And for Black photographer Roy DeCarava, life in his neighborhood was beautiful. Follow Roy through 1940s Harlem, as he takes out his camera, pops in a roll of film, and opens his eyes to the beauty all around him. There’s a little boy drawing on the sidewalk with chalk. SNAP! A young man at the bus stop with a baby in his arms. SNAP! Kids playing in an open fire hydrant. SNAP! Looking at them all, Roy sees beauty everywhere in Harlem, and so do the people who look at his photos. This deeply researched picture book also includes additional information on DeCarava, a list of places to view his photos, a bibliography, and photos.

The audience was completely silent the first time Billie Holiday performed a song called "Strange Fruit." In the 1930s, Billie was known as a performer of jazz and blues music, but this song wasn''t either of those things. It was a song about injustice, and it would change her life forever. Discover how two outsiders—Billie Holiday, a young black woman raised in poverty, and Abel Meeropol, the son of Jewish immigrants—combined their talents to create a song that challenged racism and paved the way for the Civil Rights movement.

Walt Whitman is celebrated as an iconic American poet, but few know of the crucial and heroic role he played tending to the wounded and dying in Civil War hospitals. This nonfiction picture book highlights Whitman’s compassion and teaches an important lesson about empathy, making this a perfect social-emotional learning title for young readers. In December of 1862, Walt Whitman left Brooklyn, New York, for the war-torn South after seeing his brother''s name on a list of wounded Union soldiers. What he found on the battlefields completely changed his life, as he came face to face with not only the wounded, but the dying. Whitman spent the next three years working part-time in Washington, DC, visiting and ministering to soldiers in the city’s many military hospitals. Caring for the sick and dying was not easy, but Whitman was committed to his chosen service. He became known as "the soldiers’ friend," and was bound—in his own way—to save and heal the America he wrote about and loved so deeply. New York Times-bestselling author Gary Golio and Caldecott Honor artist E. B. Lewis bring Whitman’s story and his passion for America to life, complete with quotes from Whitman’s works, and extensive backmatter, which includes a bibliography and photographs.

Describes the spiritual journey jazz musician John Coltrane took in his life and the way that it is reflected in his music.

The poignant story of Blind Willie Johnson--the legendary Texas musician whose song "Dark Was the Night" was included on the Voyager I space probe''s Golden Record Willie Johnson was born in 1897, and from the beginning he loved to sing--and play his cigar box guitar. But his childhood was interrupted when he lost his mother and his sight. How does a blind boy make his way in the world? Fortunately for Willie, the music saved him and brought him back into the light. His powerful voice, combined with the wailing of his slide guitar, moved people. Willie made a name for himself performing on street corners all over Texas. And one day he hit it big when he got a record deal and his songs were played on the radio. Then in 1977, his song--"Dark Was the Night"--was chosen to light up the darkness when it was launched into space on the Voyager I space probe''s famous Golden Record. His immortal song was selected for the way it expresses the loneliness humans all feel, while reminding us we''re not alone.

James Ransome''s glorious art celebrates jazz icon Sonny Rollins and how he found an inspired spot to practice his saxophone when his neighbors complained. Sonny Rollins loved his saxophone. As a teenager, he was already playing with jazz stars and making a name for himself. But in 1959, at age twenty-nine, he took a break from performing—to work on being a better, not just famous, musician. Practicing in a city apartment didn’t please the neighbors, so Sonny found a surprising alternative—the Williamsburg Bridge. There, with his head in the clouds and foghorns for company, Sonny could play to his heart’s content and perfect his craft. It was a bold choice, for a bold young man and musician. Sonny’s passion for music comes alive in jazzy text and vivid, evocative paintings of New York City. His story celebrates striving to be your very best self, an inspiration to music lovers young and old.

An enchanting, true story of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Bob Dylan, and his mentor, Woody Guthrie. "Hey hey, Woody Guthrie, I wrote you a song..." When Bob finished, Woody''s face lit up like the sun. Bob Dylan is a musical icon, an American legend, and, quite simply, a poet. But before he became Bob Dylan, he was Bob Zimmerman, a kid from rural Minnesota. This lyrical and gorgeously illustrated picture book biography follows Bob as he renames himself after his favorite poet, Dylan Thomas, and leaves his mining town to pursue his love of music in New York City. There, he meets his folk music hero and future mentor, Woody Guthrie, changing his life forever.

An award-winning author and a Caldecott Medalist take a creative look at the early life of comedic genius Charlie Chaplin. Once there was a little slip of a boy who roamed the streets of London, hungry for life (and maybe a bit of bread). His dad long gone and his actress mother ailing, five-year-old Charlie found himself onstage one day taking his mum’s place, singing and drawing laughs amid a shower of coins. There were times in the poorhouse and times spent sitting in the window at home with Mum, making up funny stories about passersby. And when Charlie described a wobbly old man he saw in baggy clothes, with turned-out feet and a crooked cane, his mother found it sad, but Charlie knew that funny and sad go hand in hand. With a lyrical text and exquisite collage imagery, Gary Golio and Ed Young interpret Charlie Chaplin’s path from his childhood through his beginnings in silent film and the creation of his iconic Little Tramp. Keen-eyed readers will notice a silhouette of the Little Tramp throughout the book that becomes animated with a flip of the pages. An afterword fills in facts about the beloved performer who became one of the most famous entertainers of all time.

Before he became one of the greatest guitar players of all time, Jimi Hendrix was a boy who loved to paint and listen to records, and who asked himself an unusual question: could someone paint pictures with sound?

Spend a day with composer John Cage—hear what he hears, see what he sees, and get caught up in the music he weaves from his experiences. A nonfiction picture book perfect for kids ages 7–10 who love music and exploring the world of sounds around them. John Cage is a man who makes music with screws and bolts or with rubber bands. He’ll play a toy piano onstage in his suit. Why? To make people listen. To make them think. As John goes through an ordinary day, he finds that it’s full of wonder and full of music. John hears the seeds of music in everything from slippers scuffing on an old wooden floor and water whooshing from a faucet to beeping horns and screeching brakes outside. He even hears music in the silence of the forest as he harvests mushrooms. Author Gary Golio’s poetic text and illustrator Andrea D’Aquino’s bright, simple illustrations remind kids “open your ears / open your mind… YOU ARE / the music / the noise / the silence.”

An inspiring true Civil War story for ages 7-10 about a brave soldier of the first Black regiment from acclaimed author-illustrator duo Gary Golio and E. B. Lewis. The 54th was the first official Black regiment of the Union Army. For these men, it was imperative that the flag carried by their color guard never touch the ground. It represented a more just America where they might be free. During the battle at Fort Wagner in South Carolina, William Carney—who was formerly enslaved and escaped to freedom—saw the guard go down, and picked up the flag himself. Despite being shot several times and injured, William carried the flag across the battlefield to Union lines, becoming a hero. William Carney was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for this act, defying widespread racial discrimination and prejudice. This book celebrates his remarkable life and impacts on his communities. His story still reverberates to this day. The movie Glory is based on the actions of the 54th.

An award-winning author and a Caldecott Medalist improvise a playful tribute to the creators of bebop—Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. When sax player Charlie “Bird” Parker and trumpeter John “Dizzy” Gillespie make music together, they toss notes back and forth like a game of tag and chase each other with sounds. As Dizzy’s cheeks puff out like a frog with glasses, the two friends beep and bop and push each other to create a new kind of music—a thrilling fast jazz full of surprises. Blending a playful, rhythmic narration with expressive illustrations as fluid and dynamic as their subjects, this tribute to the masters of bebop by acclaimed biographer Gary Golio and beloved artist Ed Young will have readers hankering to listen for themselves.