Drum City

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!
Drum.
Drum.
Boy in the yard drumming so hard, calling all kids to come drum in the yard.
Drum on some kettles and cans!
Here they come!
They run to the beat of the drum.
Drum.
Bowls and buckets, cartons and cans, barrels and bins, and pots and pans, mops on pails, and rusty old rails—a frolicking, rollicking ruckus of rumbling drums.
Drum.
Jump to the sound, dance all around, loud on the tubs and the tins that they found.
“March!” calls the boy in the yard full of drums, hundreds and hundreds of drums.
  • FINALIST | 2011
    Connecticut Book Award
Vanessa Brantley-Newton is a self-taught illustrator, doll maker, and crafter who studied fashion illustration at FIT and children's book illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She is the author and illustrator of Grandma's Purse, Just Like Me, and Becoming Vanessa, and has illustrated numerous children's books, including the New York Times bestsellers The King of Kindergarten and The Queen of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes and Sewing Stories by Barbara Herkert. Vanessa currently makes her nest in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband, daughter, and a very rambunctious cat named Stripes. Learn more about Vanessa and her artwork at VanessaBrantleyNewton.com and on Facebook and Instagram. View titles by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

About

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!

Excerpt

Drum.
Drum.
Boy in the yard drumming so hard, calling all kids to come drum in the yard.
Drum on some kettles and cans!
Here they come!
They run to the beat of the drum.
Drum.
Bowls and buckets, cartons and cans, barrels and bins, and pots and pans, mops on pails, and rusty old rails—a frolicking, rollicking ruckus of rumbling drums.
Drum.
Jump to the sound, dance all around, loud on the tubs and the tins that they found.
“March!” calls the boy in the yard full of drums, hundreds and hundreds of drums.

Awards

  • FINALIST | 2011
    Connecticut Book Award

Author

Vanessa Brantley-Newton is a self-taught illustrator, doll maker, and crafter who studied fashion illustration at FIT and children's book illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She is the author and illustrator of Grandma's Purse, Just Like Me, and Becoming Vanessa, and has illustrated numerous children's books, including the New York Times bestsellers The King of Kindergarten and The Queen of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes and Sewing Stories by Barbara Herkert. Vanessa currently makes her nest in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband, daughter, and a very rambunctious cat named Stripes. Learn more about Vanessa and her artwork at VanessaBrantleyNewton.com and on Facebook and Instagram. View titles by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Books for Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Every May we celebrate the rich history and culture of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Browse a curated selection of fiction and nonfiction books by AANHPI creators that we think your students will love. Find our full collection of titles for Higher Education here.

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