To Be a Drum [Hardcover]

Evelyn Coleman (Author), Kathy Tucker (Editor), Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Daddy Wes tells how Africans were brought to America as slaves, but promises his children that as long as they can hear the rhythm of the earth, they will be free.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4AThis ambitious picture book celebrates the creativity and individuality of African Americans, beginning with the origin of human life when "the rhythm of the earth beat for the first people," filled the air with spirit, and flew into their bodies. This beat enables them to create actual and, possibly, symbolic drums. When the people are enslaved and carried to a new land where their "drums" are taken from them, they still feel the earth's beat in their bodies and become "living drums," and all of their skills and talents become symbolic instruments. Accomplishments in science, the arts, the military, and the Civil Rights Movement are referred to and the account ends with an exhortation to readers to find out how to beat out their own rhythms of the earth. The art is executed with thick paint, fabric collage, old buttons, fibers, clay and sand, and shreds of old baskets. The double-spread pictures run off the pages and compositions often swirl endlessly with no place for the eye to rest. Sometimes the backgrounds almost overpower the foregrounds. Images change from simple patchwork, to a misty scene, to thickly painted portraits, to simple washes. The picture of the creation of life with bold black outlines anchoring the portraits seems the most successful. Some readers may enjoy the poetic, inspirational text, but others may find the insistence on the drum metaphor and the relentlessly energetic art a bit overbearing.AMarilyn Iarusso, New York Public Library
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 5^-8. As Mat and Martha sit on the ground with Daddy Wes, he tells them: "Long before time, before hours and minutes and seconds, on the continent of Africa, the rhythm of earth beat for the first people . . . . The beat moved through our bodies and pushed out from our fingers. That is how our drum was born." In the pages that follow, Daddy Wes relates the history of African Americans, mentioning slavery, handiwork, song, soldiering, invention, civil rights battles, arts, and literature, all spoken of in terms of the drumbeat of the people, the heartbeat of the earth itself. Daddy Wes urges his children, and ultimately the reader, to hear that heartbeat and become their own drums, beating out their own rhythms. An unusual combination of history, exhortation, and tactile images, the text offers a dramatic read-aloud opportunity, given the right teller's voice. The art, too, combines many elements (paint, vintage fabric, cotton fibers, clay, buttons) to create a vibrant, eclectic series of scenes. An original. Carolyn Phelan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807580066
• ISBN-13: 978-0807580066
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #908,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not to Be Missed!!, April 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: To Be a Drum (Hardcover)

This book is nothing short of an affirmation of life, celebrating the creativity and perseverance of the human spirit. In deceptively simple text, which even the youngest child can appreciate, Coleman weaves a story of tradition which, down through time, continues to bind people together in a delightful kaleidoscope of change. Complementing the simple text are Aminah Robinson's mixed-media illustrations, incorporating earth from Africa with material from her grandmother's quilt. Stitches running through the pages neatly reinforce the theme of the story. A book not to be missed.