The stanzas provide "biographical details through metaphors evoking sound", such as "Before John was a jazz giant, / he heard Grandpa’s Sunday sermons, / Mama playing hymns for the senior choir, / and the scoutmaster’s call to join a band".

[2] Booklist's Hazel Rochman highlighted "the beat of lyrical words and the rhythm of the beautiful illustrations",[2] while Kirkus Reviews discussed how "Qualls’s mixed-media full-bleed spreads employ a color palette (blue, sienna, ochre, white) and sonic iconography [...].

Circles and bubbles populate each spread, standing in for the emanations of Grandma’s cooking pots, the setting-sun sadness of a family funeral and sweet possibility, as John 'picked up that horn.

'"[1] On behalf of School Library Journal, Joyce Adams Burner described the writing as "evocative" in how it "traces Coltrane's influences simply and stunningly, her redolent voice as smooth and vivid as jazz itself".

[6] The Association for Library Service to Children named Before John Was a Jazz Giant a 2009 Notable Children's Book,[7] and the National Council for the Social Studies included it on their 2009 list of Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People.