This post is part of a weekly series of synopses of children’s books, written by First Book staff members.

Satchmo’s Blues, by Alan Schroeder, illustrated by Floyd Cooper. Louis Armstrong grew up in New Orleans listening to jazz at Economy Hall. After seeing a trumpet in the window of a pawn shop, he decided he was going buy it, but where would he get the money? Through determination and a little creativity, Louis Armstrong bought the instrument that went on to make him famous. Grades K-2.

Robin Hood, adapted by Annie Ingle and illustrated by Domenick D’Andrea. In Sherwood Forest there lives an outlaw who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. You know him as Robin Hood! From the daring rescue of a young girl from her unhappy wedding day, to meeting King Richard the Lionheart, follow Robin and his band of merry men as they foil the Sheriff of Nottingham’s plans again and again. Grades 3-4.

Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare. When Kit’s grandfather dies, her only option is to travel to the Puritan settlement of Wethersfield, Connecticut to live with an aunt she has never met. Used to a life of luxury in her Carribbean home of Barbados, Kit finds herself faced with endless days of hard work and little freedom under the watchful eyes of her uncle and gossiping neighbors. Kit must fight for her life when she is accused of consorting with a witch and blamed for the sickness sweeping the colony. This book, for grades 5-6, was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1959.