Customer Reviews

The Sound Of Kwanzaa

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The Sound of Kwanzaa by Dimitre Tokunbo is one of the better Kwanzaa books to share with groups of young children. Lisa Cohen's colorful illustrations are bright and vivid and hold a young child's attention. Most Kwanzaa books are too difficult for young children to understand. This book fills that gap. My young kindergarten and first grade students were delighted with this book and I would recommend it for elementary librarians to add to their Kwanzaa collections.

Dimitrea's a dear friend of mine, so I was looking forward to this book for a *very* long time before it was published. And the published book didn't disappoint--it's a charming choice, especially to read out loud to a group of kids. If you can make it to one of Dimitrea's readings, I'd highly recommend taking the time as she's just-plain delightful.

There are a lot of books on Kwanzaa (a lot of books on holidays in general, actually) so what makes this one such a must-have? For me, it was the way this story lives up to its title and focuses on the sounds of celebration, also the book is quite active (for instance, "Beating drums and singing voices, we perform for Kuumba") making it a fun choice for littler people who might enjoy acting it out alongside the reader. The illustrations are bright and colorful and full of charm as well. (And the recipe for no-bake brownies at the back is really, really yummy!)

An absolutely lovely addition to the holiday genre--and (hint, hint) this one would make a great gift, too.