Drum Dream Girl

 


Genre for Drum Dream Girl is an Asian America/Caribbean historical children's picture book targeted at grade levels K-2nd grade. (Social Justice Books, 2024)

Drum Dream Girl is inspired by a true story of a girl that wants to play the drums in a time where only men can. She persists and a teacher sees her potential and teachers her everything he knows, eventually ending with the girl changing things and allowing girls to be drummers too.

This book was chosen after finding it on TeachingBooks.net where it was awarded the 2016 Pura Belpre award. It was chosen as well for it being a multicultural story and inspired by a true story with fictional elements attached.

In evaluating this I have chosen to explore the setting (illustration), alliteration and the motif. First, by looking at the setting, the author conveys this by using an artstyle akin to the location it takes place in with a South American/Caribbean artstyle with bright colors and abstract human faces and characters that are culturally similar and a common art style there. The illustrator allows for a dream like quality to match with the girls dreams thats conveyed with abstract imagery. An example of this is the girl climbing on drums to reach the moon.

The second is alliteration which is used multiple times by the author to provide rhythm to the story, as well as call attention to the most important parts of it, the drumming and the girls dreams. Examples include "the drum dream girl had to keep dreaming," "pounding tall conha drums tapping small bongo drums and boom boom booming." I like the last one because using the same word in succession calls importance to it which is the intention of the author. it feels like a heartbeat.

Lastly, we will look at motif which is excellently handled by the author through theming it as a story of a girl who challenges the norms of her home to achieve something greater. it serves as a lesson that anyone can do anything. I've noticed this in past evaluations that the majority of children's picture books tend to carry a sentiment that you can do anything and be whoever you want to be. The story conveys following your dreams through the poem and the abstract art and allows you to understand exactly the meaning without digging to deeply into it.

References

Drum dream girl. (2024). Social Justice Books. Retrieved February 8, 2024, from https://socialjusticebooks.org/drum-dream-girl/

Engle, M. (2015). Drum dream girl (R. Lopez, Illus.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Pura Belpré Awards, 1996-2024. (2024). TeachingBooks. Retrieved February 8, 2024, from https://school.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?wid=4


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