Drum Dream Girl

Drum Dream Girl

Author: Margarita Engle

Illustrator: Rafael López
Award: Pura Belpre Award 

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade Level: Pre-K to 3^rd grade

This is a story about a girl who all she dreams is about playing drums. She lives in an island of music that believes that only boys should play drums. She knows she is good at playing drums and she wants to play drums for other. But she is constantly told by everyone that because she is a girl, she cannot play the drum. This does not stop her from dreaming. Everything for her is music. She walks down the streets, she starts tapping her footsteps resembling drumbeats. She closes her eyes and listen to the drumbeats played by men and imagines that she is playing. She plays the drumbeats on the table at home. Everyone keeps reminding her that she should stop pursuing her passion for playing drums. But she keeps on dreaming. One day, her sisters hear her playing the drum and asks her to join in their little dance band. But their father hears the drumbeats and tells the sisters that only boys can play drums. The father then listens to his little girl playing drum and realizes that how passionate she is. He brings a music teacher to listen to her drumbeats. If the music teacher likes it, then she can play the drum. If he does not, then she should stop her dream of playing the drum. When the music teacher hears her drumbeats, he is astonished on how well she can play. He teaches her more beats to which she keeps on practicing. Her music teacher then invites her to play the drum at a famous café. She plays the drum in front of everyone while everyone dances to her drumbeats.

The book illustration is remarkable. Oh, the colors in this book are amazing. It is vibrant, bright and contrasting that are beautifully mixed together to bring the illustration to life. There are few pages that are dedicated to illustration illustrated on portrayal layout rather than landscape. The book is written as a free verse poetry. The verses are not that long, and it is easy to read. The last pages are dedicated to the historical note that the story was inspired.

Thoughts:

The story is based on Millo Castro Zaldarriaga. A Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke the traditional rule of women playing drums. I must be honest here. Although I loved the story, it angered me at first when the dream girl was continuously told that she could not do something that she is good at because it is only reserved for boys. That is so misogynistic. I am glad and all that at the end people do see how good she is at playing drums and diminishes ‘only boys rule.’ This book is great to read to students as it teaches that one should never be afraid to dream because you never know, dreams just might come true.