My City Speaks

by Darren Lebeuf, Ashley Barron (Illustrator)

A young girl, who is visually impaired, finds much to celebrate as she explores the city she loves.

A young girl and her father spend a day in the city, her city, traveling to the places they go together: the playground, the community garden, the market, an outdoor concert. As they do, the girl describes what she senses in precise, poetic detail. Her city, she says, “rushes and stops, and waits and goes.” It “pitters and patters, and drips and drains.” It “echoes” and “trills,” and is both “smelly” and “sweet.” Her city also speaks, as it “dings and dongs, and rattles and roars.” And sometimes, maybe even some of the best times, it just listens.

Genres: Picture Books, Disability, Childrens, Family, Storytime, Realistic Fiction, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 7, 2021

About the author

Darren Lebeuf grew up on a humble acreage outside of Edmonton, Alberta, where he spent his days drawing, painting and exploring the outdoors. After studying art and design at Grant McEwan University, Darren started his creative career as an exhibit designer at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta.

In 2006 he set off on a world adventure. He lived in Asia for nine years, and became an internationally acclaimed family and wedding photographer. During that time, he began to pursue his long-lost passion for illustrating, and eventually created The Land of Le Beef, an online home for his collection of witty cartoons, yearly advent calendars and other illustration projects. He has written and/or illustrated a number of self-published picture books.

He now lives with his wife and two kids in Vancouver, the city that inspired his first published book, My Forest is Green.

Reviews

[Storywraps · Rating 5 out of 5]

A father and daughter explore their city as they head off to where the little girl will play her violin in the park. On their journey they experience their city through four of the little girl's senses. She uses four because she is visually impaired. They visit the community garden, the marketplace, and take part in all the hustle and bustle that the city has to offer. Lovely poetic words are used to describe and celebrate their adventure: her city "rushes and stops", "waits and goes", "pitters and patters", "echoes and trills", just to name a few. At the end of the book when the little girl plays her violin at the concert the city stops and listens.

This delightful book points out that although the little girl has only four senses it does not impede her ability to submerge herself in the city life that she loves so dearly.

The talented illustrator creates lovely vivid hued cut-paper collage illustrations that visually enrich the text. I love the book and was delighted to learn that the story and illustrations were reviewed by a blind sensitivity reader. I highly recommend it.

[Paula Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute read featuring a girl who is visually impaired and her father. During their day, he takes her to the park to play her violin. As their day goes along the father and daughter experience the city through sounds at the places they visit and the transport they go on from the buses to the sounds at the playground, the garden, marketplace, and eventually an outdoor concert where our main character is featured. This would also make a perfect read-aloud book as children would love the sounds of the city and features all the five senses. The illustrations are also beautifully put together. The other thing that is awesome about this book is that it was reviewed by a blind sensitivity reader. My City Speaks is perfect for children aged 3 - 6 years old.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

On their way to a violin recital, a young girl, visually impaired, shows "her" city of so many sounds: "hasty honks, impatient beeps, distant chimes" and more. Full-page collaged illustrations by Ashley Barron show how full a city can be while the girl and her father walk together. It can be an inspiration for children to listen to sounds at home, on their own way around their neighborhoods, or at their schools. It's lovely.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwrenching story. This book makes me think of people who are blind and how hard it must be for them everyday. This is a beautiful book which makes you think of how blessed it is to be able to see.

[Jae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great example of representation without making an issue of it.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young girl uses a white cane while traversing the city with her father. Details pick up the presence of the bumpy pavement at crosswalks and other cues indicating how this visually impaired child adapts, while never explicitly mentioning them in the text. The text does highlight the sounds and feeling and smells of the city, with illustrations that perfectly complement. In addition, the illustrations are really beautiful cut paper with painted details that give lots of depth and texture to the art.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A visually impaired girl and her father spend a day together in the city. The poetic rhythm of this exploration, encouraging the use of our other senses besides sight is truly beautiful. The water color and collage style of art show a simplicity through our simple memories and past, only recounting specific images and details as described by our young narrator.

A fun sound and senses picture book!

[Jackie L · Rating 3 out of 5]

My City Speaks by Darren Lebeuf follows a young girl in her daily routine while living in a big city. We never learn her name, but she is blind and shares how she uses her sense throughout the story. The young girl goes about her daily routine with her father. They visit the park, the market, and other various places in the city. The story ends when our character plays a concert in the park for an audience.

This story is the 2022 Young Children Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award. This award is for books that “embodies the artistic expression” of those with disabilities. This is a perfect way to describe this story and empower young readers - particularly those with a disability. The author does an exceptional job at portraying the character as a child that is not any different than other children. The character is not pitied or sympathized with at any point in the story, which is a powerful move by the author to express equality.

I accessed this story on Epic! Books. I liked that this was a self-paced version for a student to read. The recommended age group for this book is 3-7, but I don’t think this story can be fully read independently without some support. There are some challenging vocabulary words in the latter half of the story. Aside from this, this is a great resource to share with students. Teachers can use this text as a supplemental resource when teaching about diverse topics, such as disabilities. The plot follows the young girl and her father through one day, therefore this story can be used alongside a sequence of events lesson.

[Anneka · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids’ favourite part was the ice cream!

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations! This book is about a visually impaired girl who’s travelling through the city with her father as she explains what she hears. Such a sweet book!

[Zahro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucu ilustrasinya. Belum pernah kuliat yang kek gini.

[Francesca]

Simple yet great book about the experiences of a blind child. A book that makes you want to stop and take in your surroundings: be it smells, sounds or touch.

[Jeanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the illustrations and the easy to read out loud prose. The words rhymed and I loved the depiction of young girl being vision impaired. It allowed for a good talking point with my children

[J C0llier · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sweet inclusive story. Lovely way to show young children how having a disability doesn't have to keep you limited

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

A blind girl tells how she experiences her day enjoying her city with her father.

Schneider Award

[Lauren French · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read My City Speaks by Darren Lebeuf as an e-book/audiobook on Hoopla. The narrator did a nice job of using expression to read the story.

I read this book as part of the inclusion part of my class. I chose this book because it was the 2022 young children winner for the Schneider Family Book Award. This award honors authors that show an artistic expression of a person’s experience with a disability.

The protagonist is a young girl who is visually impaired. This is not a culturally specific book, but the girl is African American. The girl walks around her neighborhood with her dad and considers the sounds, scents, and textures of her community. The author uses lots of verbs to describe what the town sounds like, smells like, and feels like.

I highly recommend this book to students in elementary school. This book would be great to read to discuss inclusiveness or to discuss string verbs! Students may also choose to read this book independently. It could also be used as a guided reading book since most of the words are decodable.

[Michelle B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found My City speaks on the Schneider Family Book Award list on the Barnes and Noble website. This is a realistic fiction picturebook I read for prek-5. In this book, a girl walks through a modern day city with her father and tells everything the city says. This book is also an inclusion text because this girl cannot see the city due to a visual impairment, but she can hear the city. This book meets criteria for the genre of contemporary realistic fiction, as described on page 252 of our textbook, because students will find this book to resemble the real world. For example, on page 14 the author describes how the city grows and the illustration shows a crane building towers in the background. This book would be a great read aloud of primary grades in a social studies unit. Students could compare and contrast this city to their own town. Although this book is geared for very young students, there is evidence of strong figurative language. On page 28, the author used alliteration to describe the city by using phrases like “hasty honks” and “reliable rumbles”. These alliteration examples could be studied by students to notice word choice and then implement this technique in their own writing.

[Erin Peck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book has a Schneider Family Book Award and was published in 2021. It is about a little girl talks and takes us through her busy and buzzing city. The girl is visually impaired and speaks about all the sounds and smells of her city in a poetic and beautiful way. This book has great illustration. I like this book a lot because it as a main character who is visually impaired and I think it’s important for society as well as children in the classroom to look at life from a different perspective I feel this gains well rounded as well as empathy. I feel this book would be appropriate in any classroom at any age and could be used for many lessons introducing diversity, cities and towns, and conversations surrounding disabilities and inclusivity.

[Katelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A visually impaired girl describes a day in her city from her perspective. Simple story with cute illustrations.

[Mara S · Rating 4 out of 5]

My City Speaks by Darren Lebeuf and illustrated by Ashley Barron is a realistic fiction picture book that features a visually impaired main character. I read this book for a graduate class on children’s literature with the focus on inclusion representation. I found this book on the ALA website . It is a Schneider Family Book Award winner. The story is about a young visually impaired girl who narrates in first person what her city is like. Accompanied by her dad, the reader gets to understand how the girl is able to interact with a city she loves through other senses like smelling, hearing, feeling, and tasting. With her cane, she is able to experience just as much joy as her visually-abled neighbors. The girl is a talented violinist and interacts with her city just like everyone else, such as playing in the playground or feeding the birds. I enjoyed this book. I liked its message that this girl’s disability doesn’t stop her from enjoying a full life as well as that there are five senses total and not having access to one doesn’t necessarily stop someone from being able to experience the four other ones which provides them with life experiences. I wish there would have been more plot development, however. It was a very quick read overall. Barron used realism as her style for her artwork as the images were realistic and in color. She used what I believe is a mixed media style as it seems like some of the pictures are computer generated while others were drawn and colored in Most of the pictures are double-paged spreads which do a great job of showing how vast the girl’s world is. The text is usually above or below the artistry as it is clear the illustrations are supposed to draw the reader’s attention and captivate them. The point of view of the book is first person, so the reader gets to experience the city through the girl’s perspective which allows the reader to get a better understanding of how she interacts with the world with her disability. When it comes to realistic fiction categories, this book falls under overcoming physical challenges because the girl is achieving success without having special powers. This book is culturally generic because the girl is of color, as is her dad and other people in the city, but there is nothing discussed about the girl’s culture. She is also racially ambiguous, so the reader doesn’t know her culture anyway. I would use this book for young elementary kids or ELLs because of its simple language and plot. However, I can see using this for older students when it comes to teaching figurative language. It makes good usage of personification and alliteration. Therefore, I can see this as a mentor text for middle schoolers on those topics or as something to use in station rotations for middle/high schoolers to interact with figurative language in text. I can also see using this book as a way to segue into a unit about disability. I also found out this book has a Braille edition which is awesome! Darren Lebeuf is a white author/photographer who does not have a disability, so he wrote from an outsider’s perspective on the topic. It is important that books about disabilities don’t fall into harmful tropes, such as inspiring or tragic, and this book makes sure that it doesn’t fall into those. Incorporating this book into curriculum or a classroom library will allow students with visual impairments to see themselves in literature. This book did make sure it was the little girl’s story to tell as well as had authentic relationships with the world around her/her dad. However, she was not multidimensional, and I would have liked to know more about her as a character.

[Annah Neumire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has the power to make a person stop and think about the world around them. It is very easy to take for granted the things we see on a day-to-day basis around us. We forget that not everyone has this ability.

Darren Lebeuf wrote this beautiful story capturing the life of a little girl who is blind. Throughout the book, she is walking through her city and recites the different noises she hears. For me, it took me a moment of self-reflection and analysis to find the true point of the story. I believe the author's intent was to showcase that just because the child cannot see, does not mean she cannot observe the many things around her; she may just do it in a slightly different manner. She uses her other senses, such as hearing and tasting to navigate the events taking place around her urban environment.

This book is a wonderful read for children because it will teach them to be grateful for the abilities they have and to be understanding of the people who may not have the same abilities. It is also a great way to show visually impaired students that they are seen. They are heard.

The vibrant and colorful illustrations are great for children to visualize the meaning of the story. The textures and movements the illustrator uses are simply amazing. They capture every detail of the city that the main character cannot capture with her eyes. I especially loved the drawing of the market on a rainy day with the text, "It pitters and patters." This helps children see and hear the scene in their heads, which can place them in the character's shoes.
Overall, I thought this was a powerful and touching story and would recommend it to anyone.

[Storytime With Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was just commenting the other day about Ashley Barron’s art and how much I love it. I was super excited to receive a copy of her newest book written by Darren Lebeuf titled My City Speaks.

This author/illustrator duo is also behind the beautiful stories My Forest is Green and My Ocean is Blue so it was nice to also have a story about the city to compliment their explorations of nature.

In My City Speaks, the narrator, a girl, who is blind, and her father navigate the city by highlighting the sounds, smells, tastes and textures she experiences. On the first page you don’t notice the narrator is blind but once she leaves the house with her white cane, readers will recognize her mobility device and be able to place her sensory disability and if not, adults who are reading to the children can use this as a point of discussion about the different ways we experience the world.

Ashley Barron’s illustrations are full of all of the experiences of the city. There are lots of people and vehicles and parks and animals. There is public transit and fruit markets and concerts in the park. For those who live in the city there are many things featured that are immediately recognizable and for those who don’t, the illustrations give readers a city experience within the pages.

It’s a wonderful story, perfect for the youngest readers to talk about city living versus country living, to start a conversation about disability or just to enjoy the elegant descriptions and beautiful art.

[Liliana Perez]

My City Speaks is one of the books professor Ruth brought to class that focuses on inclusion-theme literature. The book was written and illustrated by Darren Lebeuf and Ashley Barron. The book tells the story of a girl and her father going to a violin recital. On her way to her recital, the girl explores the city throughout her four senses as she is visually impaired. She can not see; however, it doesn’t stop her from experiencing what she can hear, smell, touch, and taste. She describes how her city moves as she hears cars driving around and people walking around the city. She also describes how her city grows as she touches and feels the flowers and hears construction workers building the city. She describes in a poetic way how the city speaks and she is able to see throughout her other senses. The illustrations give life to her description as they are colorful and truly represent places, things and people interacting in a busy city.

I recommended this book for grades K to 4 since there are many topics the teacher can use it for. For example, teachers can use it to discuss different types of disabilities. Also, the book can be used to teach about senses. Students in primary grades can draw a picture of things they also hear, smell, taste, see, and touch. Students can write sentences that describe each picture. In grades 3rd and 4th, students can compare and contrast between senses. Finally the book can be used as a mentor text for social studies when introducing topics such as city, suburbs, and country.

[K.A. Cummins · Rating 4 out of 5]

My City Speaks is a delightful picture book written by Darren Lebeuf and illustrated by Ashley Barron. The story follows a young girl who is visually impaired as she navigates the city with her father. It’s a celebration of sounds, scents, and textures set to the rhythm of a large city.

There’s much to love about this book and the way the words and illustrations tell the story together. The writing is simple and rhythmic—not rhyming, but poetic with the lyrical feel of a beating drum. While the colorful, scrapbook-esque illustrations are detailed, adding texture and visually enhancing the story’s sensory adventure.

It’s also great for beginning readers: simple sentences, easier verbs, an abundance of sight words, and some repetition of non-sight words.

My City Speaks offers kids a glimpse into the life of a differently abled person. Which it does well. But I wish there would have been more to the story. (To be honest, I may have had higher expectations for this book since its primary purpose is sharing the experiences of a differently abled person.)

Overall, young readers will enjoy the sensory adventure My City Speaks offers. It would be a great addition to any classroom, for independent reading practice or as an opener for a larger discussion about what it means to be differently abled and that being different doesn’t mean less.

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Rachel Graf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the sweetest story that follows a girl and her dad navigate their city while paying close attention to the sights, smells, sounds, and actions around them.

The representation in this book is what initially stood out to me. Not only are there diverse characters in the illustrations, the main character is visually impaired. I love how it shows how she navigates living in a city in such an independent manner, which would be great for all children to see.

Also, the illustrations in this book are gorgeous and visually appealing. I love the way that Ashley Barron masterfully constructed them allowing the texture and colors to seemingly jump off the page.

The text includes mainly short, simple sentences like, "My city moves," or "My city grows." But also includes very descriptive language that guide the reader through the five senses of the city.

As a former kindergarten teacher at a school in the middle of Chicago, I would've used this book to explain the 5 senses and then we would've gone on a walk around our own city to pay attention to our own 5 senses. If you're a teacher or parent, this could be a great book to encourage lots of different activities like that.

Thank you KidsCanPress for sharing a copy of this incredible book with me in exchange for an honest review! This book is out now, so be sure to get your copy!

[Mokita · Rating 5 out of 5]

"My City Speaks", written by Darren Lebeuf, is a 2022 ALA Award-Winning Multicultural Children’s book and is acknowledged on several award sites including the Schneider Family Book Award in the young children’s category and IBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities .
Readers are taken along for a sensory rich tour of the narrator’s city. Plenty of things to smell, touch and hear, a young girl who is visually impaired, enjoys time in the city with her father. A cute and empowering picture book, readers are treated to vibrant descriptions of all that she encounters throughout the day. The reader is invited along for the sensory experiences of the young girl that are not made dull by her visual impairment. In fact, our young character is living with her disability and not trying to overcome it. We follow our character as she realistically moves about, with the help of her cane and her dad, and interacts with her world. As a study in the importance of setting when telling a story, middle school students would gain an understanding of plot structures that include setting as part of the conflict that a character faces. This text would be a good diverse literature selection for any classroom. For older students, as part of a character study, this book serves as a model text that shows a round and fleshed out character and the details that support identification of a character’s attributes and their motivations.

[Viragos Reading Odyssey · Rating 5 out of 5]

My City Speaks
by Darren Lebeuf

I read this arc from NetGalley with my 4.5 and almost 8 year old boys. It was a nice length for their ages.

The colors were vibrant and we loved noticing all of the small details. I appreciated that this was more of a visual story telling through the pictures with words operating as basic frame. This allows the parent to point out information that will be of specific interest to the child or explain a situation in a way best suited for the age and understanding level of the child such as how the girl is experiencing the city - what she is hearing, touching, smelling, tasting even though she isn’t seeing. The author and illustrator are telling a story without “telling” the story.

My older son really enjoyed the alliterations. He said they made it “sound nice”. My younger son was very disappointed in the missed opportunity to have background fire trucks in the city. Because fire trucks are the best. Other than that he approved.

I feel this is an excellent book for libraries and classrooms and would do well as a paperback in a scholastic book order type setting

[Paulina M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

We follow a little girl as she explores her city with her father on the way to her concert.

Ashley Barron cut-paper collage illustrations are so beautiful and added so much personality to the story. Darren Lebeuf did a fantastic job taking us along with our protagonist through her city as she uses four of her senses to describe what she experiences. There are so many beautiful things we can extend from this book into the classroom (or with our children) - it's a great starting point to discussing the five senses and invite children to share what they hear, feel, taste, smell, and see. It has excellent opposites examples, and more than anything, I love how the representation in this book is dealt with. The little girl is visually impaired, but that doesn't stop her from living her best life, and I love that her father is the one taking her to her concert on that day. I'm a sucker for parent representation that goes beyond the cis female mother (even though I am one myself).

Disclaimer: I first read it as an ARC. In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to Kids Can Press, Darren Lebeuf, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of My City Speaks.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

2022 ALA Schneider Young Readers Award

The beautiful cut-paper collage, watercolor, acrylic and pencil crayon artwork of Ashley Barron takes on a visual journey of the city of a young girl and and her dad as she greets her neighbors, and author Darren Lebrun describes the sounds of traffic, mailbox opening and closing, birds tweeting, water flowing as she waters her garden, feels how high the sunflowers are growing, feels the activities happening around her, play in the playground, smells yukky things and tastes gelato, hears the rain, people and animals speaking. As her dad carries her violin case and she navigates their travels with her cane, Her city speaks to her, but it also listens as she she plays her violin in a concert with our children in a park.
Never does the book mention that the girls is blind/visually impaired, it shows her living her life and doing the things people around her are doing. The exquisite cut-paper collage artwork shows a young girl thriving in her diverse and vibrant vibrant community.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely ADORE this book. The author did a fantastic job at showing what it's like for this young girl who is visually impaired to be walking around and exploring her city. She describes what she hears and notices about her city. It uses almost every descriptive word you could imagine, giving readers insight into how she perceives the life going on around her. Bonus points for her to be doing this exploring with her father, which shows a loving relationship between them, relaxing on park benches and going to the playground together. You can tell she is celebrating the world around her. I loved the part of her playing the violin in front of community members. This book breaks the idea that people who cannot see or see very well can't do things like this little girl did: going to the playground, walking across the street, and playing an instrument. Breaking these negative stereotypical thoughts and ideas is imperative for teaching children to be educated individuals who accept others.