Module 3: Picture Book 7

A.   Author	Roxanne Orgill
B.    Title	If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong
C.    Illustrator	Leonard Jenkins
D.   Readability Score	Lexile 860L,  DRA 28,  Grade Equivalent: 3.7
E.    Genre	Nonfiction
F.    Subgenre	Biography
G.   Theme	African American Music
H.   Primary and Secondary Characters	Primary: Louis Armstrong Secondary: family, friends, Mr. Davis (teacher)
I.      Awards/Date of Publication	Published: September 29, 2007
J.     Publishing Company	Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
K.   ISBN Number	0395759196
L.    Summary	Roxane Orgill takes events from several different books about Louis Armstrong and creates a true descriptive story about him. The story tells of his family living in New Orleans and his first encounters with music and dancing.  He would write songs about things that happened, both good and bad.  The first time he was able to experience was in a boys home.  His teacher knew he was something special.  Many liked the music Louis played and enough money came in to help buy new instruments for the boys’ home.  That was the beginning of Louis music career.
M.  Picture of Book Cover
N.   Usage with students	There are so many subject areas you could use this book in; social studies, music, and writing.  Introduce writing biographies to students and teach them about collecting facts in order to write an accurate biography.  After reading this book have the students listen to Louis Armstrong’s music and illustrate what they think it could look like.