Bob Dylan (born Bob Zimmerman) loved music and was inspired by many different types of songs and singers, from blues to country, Muddy Waters to Hank Williams, Elvis Presley to Odetta, folk to rock 'n’ roll. He started performing around town, and later at college. But when Bob heard the music of Woody Guthrie and read Woody’s story of traveling and writing songs, “it was like finding the North Star in the night sky.” He hit the road, heading for New York City to meet Woody, who was in the hospital. Bob sang Woody’s songs to Woody, and then sang a song he’d written for Woody himself. “He was ready to blaze a trail of his own, to set down his thoughts and feelings in song.” In an author’s note, Gary Golio discusses the challenges of finding wholly reliable and agreeing accounts of this period of Bob Dylan’s life but concludes, “To learn more about Bob and Woody, just listen to their songs. It’s all there in the music.” Mark Burckhardt’s warm, acrylic and oil illustrations capture significant moments and influences in young Bob Dylan’s life. (Ages 8–11)

An enchanting, true story of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Bob Dylan, and his mentor, Woody Guthrie.

"Hey hey, Woody Guthrie, I wrote you a song..."

When Bob finished, Woody's face lit up like the sun.

Bob Dylan is a musical icon, an American legend, and, quite simply, a poet. But before he became Bob Dylan, he was Bob Zimmerman, a kid from rural Minnesota.

This lyrical and gorgeously illustrated picture book biography follows Bob as he renames himself after his favorite poet, Dylan Thomas, and leaves his mining town to pursue his love of music in New York City. There, he meets his folk music hero and future mentor, Woody Guthrie, changing his life forever.