Ray Charles

As a young boy he fell in love with music, and as a man, the world fell in love with his music. Ray Charles and his soulful, passionate rhythms and melodies have been embraced around the world for decades.Now, in this beautiful new edition of an award-winning biography, readers can follow Charles from his boyhood, when he lost his sight and learned to read and write music in Braille, until the age of 40, when he had become a world-renowned jazz and blues musician packing auditoriums and stadiums.

And in a new introduction and afterword, the author updates Charles's life to the present.

Sharon Bell Mathis has won numerous awards for her many children's books, including the 1974 Coretta Scott King Author Award for RAY CHARLES. Some of her most enduring books include The Hundred-Penny Box, a Newbery Honor Book, and Teacup Full of Roses, an ALA Notable Book. A full-time writer, Mathis lives in Ft. Washington, Maryland.

George Ford is an award-winning artist who has illustrated dozens of children's books, including several by noted authors such as Nikki Grimes, Eloise Greenfield, Nikki Giovanni, and Robert Coles. In 1974, he was the recipient of the first Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for Ray Charles. A lifelong jazz enthusiast, Ford lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife.