Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner - American Library Association (ALA) Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner - American Library Association (ALA) A beautiful new edition of the award-winning biography of world-famous musician 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 rhythm and melodies have been embraced around the globe for decades. Now, in this beautiful new edition of the award-winning biography, readers can follow Charles from his boyhood, when he lost his sight completely 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. In a new introduction, the author updates Charles' life to the present day. "Winner of both the Coretta Scott King Author Award and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, Ray Charles by Sharon Bell Mathis, illus. by George Ford, originally published in 1973, traces the star's surmounting of incredible obstacles to become one of the world's greatest jazz musicians. Ford's illustrations capture every emotional nuance, from Ray's disappointment at being tricked by classmates as a child, to his strength as a man, refusing to perform to segregated audiences." -- Publishers Weekly "The music of Ray Charles 'tells about love and pain and joy and trouble' and so do the events of his life... Details the heroism in Ray Charles' life." -- The Horn Book 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.