From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3--This is a jazzy story about an African-American girl who loves music. From the time she was a baby banging out rhythms with her rattle or a two-year-old making a horn to toot on or a kindergartner looking for other kids with the same passion, Violet played and sang, and hummed and thought about music all the time. Then "one day a few summers later," she finds Angel, Randy, and Juan, all of whom are kindred spirits, to jam with. And the best part is that every one of them knew that they would find one another. With an upbeat text that uses lots of sound words, this tale celebrates music as much as it applauds being true to what you love. Violet seems perfectly happy to keep on making music and looking for fellow musicians. She never gives up in either pursuit, and in the end is rewarded for her perseverance. Done in acrylics and collage, the lively illustrations seem to move on the page. Violet and her friends have round, smiling faces; elongated arms and legs; and play instruments that have a life and movement all their own. Pair this title with Judy Cox's My Family Plays Music (Holiday, 2003) or Lloyd Moss's Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin (S & S, 1995) and Music Is(Putnam, 2003) for a rousing storytime.--Jane Marino, Bronxville Public Library, NY
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PreS-Gr. 2. Ever since she was a baby, all Violet has wanted to do is play music. When she enters kindergarten, she notices that every kid has some activity he or she likes--painting, pasting, playing in the sandbox--but no one loves music like Violet does. Then Violet grows old enough to play guitar, and while strumming in the park, she meets other kids playing instruments; together they form a band. Johnson tells a familiar story about alienation and then relief after a child finds other like-minded souls. What's fresh here is that Violet and her friends are never portrayed as sad outsiders. With tough, spirited optimism, Violet keeps doing the thing she loves, sure she'll eventually find other kids who have also "dreamed music, thought music, all day long." Repetitive phrases and plenty of onomatopoeia continue the story's cheerful energy and beat, as do the busy, paint-and-collage candy-bright illustrations showing chocolate-brown Violet making music in a bustling city.
Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
