Drum City

by Thea Guidone, Vanessa Brantley-Newton (Illustrator)

A summer parade, a drummer parade, a magical bucket-and-bowl serenade!
 
What begins with one boy’s beat on a kettle soon spreads to pots and pans and cartons and cans all across the neighborhood. When everyone joins in, together they create the catchy, driving tempo of a bright, hot DRUM CITY!
 
Get ready to make some noise with this upbeat, lyrical, and diverse picture book!

Genres: Picture Books, Music, Childrens, Storytime, Summer, 1st Grade, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 8, 2010

Reviews

[Pam]

One little boy starts to beat on his drum and the entire town joins in for a massive parade. Colorful illustrations draw the reader in. By the end of the story, everyone should be drumming along.

[Meg]

The best children’s book!!

[Diana]

This is a huge hit with Harper, who just turned 4. The infectious rhythmic pattern of the words combined with the engaging, diverse illustrations make it fun to read and examine for kids and adults.

[Kate]

"Rhythm" storytime, paired with Farmyard Beat & I Got the RhythmI Got the Rhythm.

Craft activity: making drums & shakers from styrofoam cups. Shakers had some trouble due to glue taking longer to dry than anticipated.

Drum City was the first book we read. Good length for the beginning of storytime. Tapped on my leg to get a beat going and encouraged the kids to clap along. They got the hang of the rhythm pretty quickly and did a great job with it. I think having the rhythm to clap along to helped them stay focused and be a bit less wiggly this time around. The illustrations on this one are definitely of an older vintage so I wasn't sure how well the kids would respond, but I liked the book enough to try it out and it went well! One of the better storytimes I've done so far. Will probably repeat this entire storytime lineup next year, with some improvements to the craft.

[Paula]

Is it my imagination? Or do I hear echoes of Edgar Allen Poe's poem The Bells in this chanting, building, happily intense readaloud? Superdiverse, friendly faces in an urban setting give the book an energetic look, too. And something about the eyes and wide faces, the eclectic garb, recalls scratchy-lined illustration of the late 60's. Everything about this book is sunny.

[Heidi]

I loved using this book in a preschool storytime. I'm not sure, but it might work for toddlers as well. It has great rhythm and rhyme. I hadn't out tins and shakers the kids could use to drum along; they loved it, and I did too. We had a good beat going, and the story captures their attention so much that at 2 points that call for dramatic quiet, the kids followed their cues.

[Samantha]

A rhythmic read aloud about the pots and pans band toting children who parade down the city streets one day.

Photoshop illustrations are swesome! They make use of mixed media, portray a range of ethnicities, and have a great old-timey feel. The details of the city are worth lingering on and the text is infectious, it really gets the reader's toe tapping.

[R.M.]

Great, fun read! Illustrations match perfectly with the lively rhythm of the text.

[Stephanie]

Fun! I love books that get the humdrum moving!

[Katherine]

This kind of reminds me of the Master from Doctor Who, who always heard the drums in his head. God I love Doctor Who.

[The Library Lady]

Once or twice the rhythm slips, but this works beautifully read aloud. Get out your drums and have fun!

[Danica Midlil]

More rhythm than song but very engaging.

[Katie Huggins]

My son absolutely loves this book. He is 10.5 months and has been drumming his hands and some objects on things for a couple weeks/months now. So when I saw this, I had to pick it up. The first time, we just drummed on his crib railing and I read it. The second time, I have sort of made it a song and keep a steady beat throughout the book and see if my son can keep up. It changes every time we read it though, so dare I say it’s a bit of a jazz book? I think anyone with a little one who appreciates music would like this one.

[Elisabeth]

I think it would be impossible to read this without tapping along to the beat and you'd be doing your kids a disservice if you didn't hold an impromptu drum circle after reading it. The illustrations are sweet and portray all sorts of people. This book would be great for next summer's Summer Reading Program theme, Libraries Rock.

[Terry]

Great illustrations and simple text create an upbeat tempo (pun intended) for this picture book. The rhyme is pretty solid, though not perfect. Kids won't notice because they will be exploring the great illustrations. Read the rest of the review at the Reading Tub.

[alana]

a nice book for budding percussionists and city lovers. the nostalgic illustrations are charming, especially the close up of faces. I'm sure it will inspire readers to bang on everything, so beware. toddler enjoyed the fun rhythm and finding the various modes of transportation throughout.

[Abby Johnson]

An exuberant picture book about kids coming together to drum the rhythms of a city on bowls and buckets and whatever they can find. Pair with I Got the Rhythm or Tanka Tanka Skunk for a boisterous, rhythmic storytime.

[Hanna]

This book has lots of rhyme and would make for a great interactive storytime. There is some racial and gender diversity, however, stereotypical gender norms are shown. The main character is a medium-skinned boy.

[Mely]

I don't know. I just thought this was a weird book. It rhymes at one point then changes the rhythm of the text. Bothered me a little.

[Miss Sarah]

Kids walk through the city building in numbers playing all sorts of found objects as drums. What will the grown ups do? Cute. Toddler and up

[Miss Kelly]

Love the illustrations but for a book about drums, the rhythm was hard to get.

[Jesseca Jones]

Perfect book for my music project!

[Jonathan]

I liked it. Rhymed and was an appropriate length.

[Charlie Stubbs]

For the great-grandson who loves to drum on everything!

[Cynthia]

Drum City is a children's picture book where one boy starts drumming on a pot and soon the whole town joins in, drumming on anything they can find. It was a cute story.

[Viviane Elbee]

The kids liked the drums and the amusing illustrations.

I'm not sure there is much of a story - it seems that one child inspires a big drumming parade - but for kids who like reading about drums, that's ok.

[Tasha]

A great choice for a musical story time, this book offer charming illustrations and a dynamite beat. The beat starts with one child banging on a pot with a whisk and spoon. Soon children take to the streets with all sorts of objects to drum with: pots and pans, kettles and cans. They march down the street, surprising grown ups with their music. The parade of people grows and grows, turning the entire city into a city of drums. Not only does this book offer a catchy beat, but it also shows the delight of music and its ability to bring people together. Drum!

Guidone’s words create all sorts of rhythm, never hesitating to be jazzy or complex. This makes the book far more interesting to read aloud than a sedate or steady beat. She begins most stanzas of her poem with the word “drum” and ends most with that word too. This gives everyone a chance to stop and restart with another rhythm. Purely infectious!

Newton’s illustrations, done in Photoshop, are filled with a city of people of all colors, ages, and occupations. Interestingly, they incorporate not only digital art but a collage effect with word clippings in unlikely places. Sharp-eyed children will also spot postage marks in the pictures. The illustrations nicely capture the busyness of an urban setting along with the excitement of the music.

Recommended, this book is one you must try with children. Just go with the rhythm, hand everyone different things to drum with, and everyone is sure to have a bang up time. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

[Vicki]

What a fun book! To set this book up for a PreSchool Storytime, I made a photo slideshow on my iPad showing different types of drums-from a whole drum set, to marching band/parade drums, to kids playing drums, and drums you can create at home using pots & pans & spoons & tins etc.

This set up was very helpful to the children, asking them to look at the illustrations while I was reading aloud and watching for the different things children used for drumming.

I got very brave and passed out plastic coffee can drums, along with a stick to each child before we read the book. We talk about playing our drums and practiced stopping when they saw my hand held up and playing during the book when I held up my stick. They did a great job with self regulating during this process.

It was super noisy fun time!

[D'Anne]

Children take over a city mass-demonstration style whilst banging on pots, pans, and whatever else they can get their hands on. My three year old son liked the book okay, but he was a little confused that they weren't using real drums like he does. It's a cute book, but not one my son was really interested in reading more than twice. But, still, twice is pretty good for any book.

[Gphatty]

Text is OK, but the story, overall, and the wonderful, varying illustrations propel this book along nicely. Subtly multi-cultural, and unabashedly pro-city, too. I will definitely find some use in this where drumming, rhythm, and people working together are needed in a story time.