City Speaks In Drums
- Publisher
- Nimbus Publishing
- Initial publish date
- May 2010
- Category
- General
- Recommended Age
- 0 to 8
- Recommended Grade
- p to 3
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781551097589
- Publish Date
- May 2010
- List Price
- $19.95
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Out of print
This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.
Description
Two boys from North End Halifax explore their neighbourhood and the city beyond, finding music everywhere. At the skate park, by the Public Gardens, down Spring Garden Road, and on the boardwalk, drums and saxophones and dancers and basketballs create the jumbled, joyful, pulsing rhythm of Halifax. Shauntay Grant's playful spoken word-style poem and Susan Tooke's vivid illustrations create a wildly energetic and appealing journey through the big, bright city.
About the authors
Shauntay Grant is a poet, playwright, interdisciplinary artist, and children’s author who lives and works in Kjipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki (Halifax, Nova Scotia). A former poet laureate for the City of Halifax, she “creates artworks that are engaging and accessible, but also challenging, rigorous, and informed by deep research” (Royal Society of Canada). Her play The Bridge (Playwrights Canada Press) premiered at Neptune Theatre’s Fountain Hall, a co-production between 2b theatre company and Neptune in association with Obsidian Theatre Company. Set in a rural Black Nova Scotian community, this multilayered story of a family torn apart by betrayal received eleven Robert Merritt Award nominations, winning four, including for Outstanding New Play by a Nova Scotian. Grant’s first stage play Steal Away Home won the Jury Award for Outstanding Drama at the Atlantic Fringe Festival. Her other plays include KK (Boca Del Lupo, Red Phone project), Passing (Eastern Front Theatre, Micro Digitals project), and the ten-minute monodrama Beyere (Obsidian Theatre Company, 21 Black Futures project). An associate professor of creative writing at Dalhousie University, Grant holds professional degrees in creative writing, music, and journalism. Her theatrical work for young audiences has toured with Neptune Theatre’s Tour Company, and she has been commissioned by Against the Grain Theatre to write the text/poetry for Identity: A Song Cycle. She is the editor of the anthology From the Ashes: Six Solo Plays (Playwrights Canada Press) which collects groundbreaking solo plays by Black Canadian women and womxn. Her first solo stage play is in development with 2b theatre company. Grant is the author of several books for children including My Fade Is Fresh (Penguin), When I Wrap My Hair (HarperCollins), and Africville (Groundwood), which won a Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award. Her other honours include an Established Artist Recognition Award from Arts Nova Scotia, a Poet of Honour prize from Spoken Word Canada, a Joseph S. Stauffer prize from the Canada Council for the Arts, and Arts Nova Scotia’s inaugural Black Artist Recognition Award.
Born in New Jersey, Susan received her professional training from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia and the New School in New York. She moved to Canada in 1980, and has made Halifax, Nova Scotia her home. Working predominantly as a painter, Susan illustrated her first book in 2000, and has received the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration, and the Mayor’s Award for Brave Jack and the Unicorn. Her work is consistently chosen by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre as a starred selection for the Our Choice Award. In describing her artwork, Susan states: "I breathe real life into my images—the sounds, smells, colors, and idiosyncrasies of specific places and the people who inhabit them."
Awards
- Short-listed, Atlantic Book Awards, Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children's Literature
- Short-listed, Atlantic Book Awards, Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration
Librarian Reviews
The City Speaks in Drums
Two boys from North End Halifax travel through their neighbourhood into the city that extends beyond. The sights and sounds seem to speak to them in rhythm. They see children playing basketball, a mirthful water-pistol chase, a family barbecue, musicians hanging out, the spoon man tapping rhythms for spare change, the poet “spittin’ verses from the highlife café.” They end at the harbour where they are “poppin’ and lockin’ hip hoppin’” on the waterfront and watching dancers who represent dancers a variety of ethnicities.Everything about this book speaks of vitality. Whether it is the electrifying illustrations, the exuberance of the rhythm embodied in the verse, the pleasure of the children seeing their surroundings with the unique awareness of the young, the ingenuity of the effervescent people they meet—all celebrate the joie de vivre of a Canadian city and its culture. Creativity and gladness burst from every page. Truly the drum of this city “is a heart and a soul and a mind all of its own.”
The free form verse is upbeat, emanating musical energy and joy. The lilt of the dialect would contribute to a dramatic read-a-loud for the right performer or storyteller. The illustrations are radiant, using real models from the community who are each acknowledged by the artist. Every double-page spread is full of expression and detail, capturing in vivid colour the vigour of the city with its beautiful harbour, familiar landmarks and irrepressible inhabitants.
This is the second collaboration between poet laureate, broadcaster and spoken-word artist Shauntay Grant and illustrator Susan Tooke. Their first, Up Home, won them many accolades and several awards. The City Speaks in Drums is a beautiful addition to any collection. The subject and artwork speak to the free spirit and inner joy in each of us, no matter what our age.
Source: The Canadian Children's Bookcentre. Summer 2010. Vol.33 No.3.
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