Trombone Shorty - RICBA Readaloud

We're gearing up for Election Day in a couple of weeks, but did you know that students get the chance to vote in February? The Rhode Island Children’s Book Award (RICBA) goes to the book selected by students in grades 3-6 as their favorite from a list of 20 nominees.

Students who read 3 or more nominated books may vote in February. They will receive extra credit for each RICBA ratings sheet they submit (either in person or online); it asks them to record what the book was about and how they felt about it. To give everyone a head start, I'll be reading two nominees to each class. 

I started with Trombone Shorty, written by Troy Andrews and illustrated by Bryan Collier. Here's the book trailer:

Most kids enjoyed the story; here are some reasons they gave:

• He was determined. He didn't give up.
• It makes you just want to dance.
• He stood out and didn't hide back his talent.
• I liked it because it was an autobiography. I liked the illustrations too.
• He was so good at the trombone, and he was so small.
• He likes music and so do I.
• I thought it was interesting how he found the trombone and got to play with [Bo Diddley's] band.
• It shows that if you are short, you can still do anything you want to.

During checkout, I played part of a video from Trombone Shorty's web site. One student said, "Now he's Trombone Biggie!" Below the video embed, you'll see a photo of some VERY enthusiastic 5th graders air-banding along with the show.