Every couple weeks or so, my wife and I take our 3-year-old son to the local library to pick out a new collection of books we can read together at bedtime. On one of those trips a while back, we ended up getting a copy of This Jazz Man. Now, we don’t often check out the same book twice, but this one ended up being a household favorite — he asks us about it all the time, even when we don’t have a copy on hand — and we will be adding it to our permanent collection.

The book is essentially a song sang to the tune of “This Old Man” and refers to famous jazz musicians like Louie Armstrong, Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker, and more. Each page features a different player and lyrics, and goes a little something like:

♫ This jazz man, he plays one
♫ He plays rhythm with his thumb
♫ With a Snap! Snap! Snazzy-snap! Give the man a hand
♫ This jazz man scats with the band.

At the end of the book are short biographies of each musician. I really enjoy this book and am even a little proud that my son is so interested in it too. On top of being a fun bedtime read, it’s a great way to introduce kids to jazz. Love the artwork too.

Get it on Amazon in hardcover ($13), paperback ($7), or for Kindle ($7).