Booklists

CCBC Review:

Millo Castro Zaldarriaga was born in Cuba in the 1920s and grew up attuned to the rhythms in the world around her, and inside her. She dreamed of drumming, but only boys and men learned how to play at that time. She dared to drum anyway, “tall conga drums / small bongo drums / and big, round, silvery / moon-bright timbales … Her hands seemed to fly / as they rippled / rapped / and pounded / all the rhythms / of her drum dreams.” Her father said no when her sisters asked ten-year-old Millo to join their band. Only boys should play drums, he said. But Millo couldn’t silence the sounds. Eventually her father found her a teacher who listened to her, and taught her, and gave her the chance to change the way people thought about girls and drumming. Margarita Engle’s poem makes a striking picture book narrative and is set against the vibrating tropical colors of Rafael López’s lush illustrations. A note tells how Afro-Chinese-Cuban Millo went on to a world-famous musician who played alongside jazz greats, in addition to changing hearts and minds with her beats. Winner, 2016 Charlotte Zolotow Award ©2016 Cooperative Children's Book Center

Illustrated by Rafael Lopez

CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 4-8
Age Range: PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7) Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Formats: Biography, Autobiography and Memoir Picture book Poetry
Subjects: 20th Century African Peoples Biography Chinese and Chinese Americans Cubans and Cuban Americans Girls and Women History (Nonfiction) Multiracial Characters/Families Music and Musicians Perseverance Sexism
Diversity subjects: Asian Black/African Latine

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publish Year: 2015
Pages: 40
ISBN: 9780544102293
CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 811 Engle

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