Mysterious Thelonious

Mysterious Thelonious is Raschka’s tribute to jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. The book uses just twelve colors, lined up like the twelve notes of the scale. The short, repeating text and loose, abstract images follow the shape of Monk’s music — playful, surprising, and a little strange at first, but full of joy once you let it in.

It’s not a step-by-step biography. Instead, it gives kids a way to feel what Monk’s sound was like: simple phrases turning into something bigger, richer, and alive.