I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A cute book about a little girl that wants to drum. An important lesson about following your passion. Nice illustrations.

Darci the Drummer is a picture book for children ages 4 to 9, bringing to life the story of a 2nd grade girl who is a passionate drummer at heart, bashing away to the beat with natural rhythm on anything she can find when she hears a good song. Darci dreams of the day when she can play on a real drum set with skill. However, her little brother hates the raucous noises she makes, and she has no idea how she can even become a "real" drummer. Despite the hurtful criticism from her brother, and the ensuing self-doubt, her parents help show her the way via surprise drum lessons and the encouragement to keep working at something she loves. The story invokes the passion of music and of learning how to play an instrument; it introduces children to various musical terms and the names of some interesting famous drummers that span different musical genres; and it highlights the importance of musical education and the determination needed to improve oneself through practice.

I received this book from the publisher for review for my honest opinion.
This book is about Darci's love for anything drums and how she loves to tap out on anything she can find. I felt the pictures really told the story. I thought they were detailed and descriptive. The story itself was a little choppy and felt like it was missing something. But overall I did think that this book was ok.

Darci loves to drum, on any and everything in site. Her parents decide it’s time for her to get some real lessons and learn how to really drum instead of just make drumming noises. The message of being a supportive parent is great. However I find that this book is overlong, was to wordy, and descriptive.

My five year old grandson is taking drum lessons so I thought this would be a great book for him, sadly he was not impressed. There was too much text for him. There were parts he likes, but he talked more about the pictures and didn't really listen to me while I was reading. I think this story was good, but rating it for ages 4 to 9 is a bit unrealistic. I think children 7 and up would probably get more out of this story. Darci is a normal child who drums on whatever she can get her hands on. Her brother tells her she is the worst drummer and too loud, typical sibling behaviour. Darci's parents set her up in lessons and she begins to love her new skills, as does her brother. The illustrations are bright and very detailed. A good book for a primary music teacher to share with her students. The publisher, Ingram Spark/JWB Professional Services, generously provided me with a copy of this book to read. The opinions shared are my own.

I received an e-copy from Netgalley in return for an honest review.
The reason for the three stars is that the digital copy I received had some significant layout problems. I assume that they will be fixed by the time the book is published but it did deter me from fully enjoying the story. I enjoyed it and the images throughout the book are nice but the story left a bit to be desired. While her brother hates the noise of her drumming, her parents are very supportive and help her lead the way with lessons and she also learns about famous drummers through history. I appreciated the musical terms that are included for the child learning about music.

I am sorry to say this, because I know so much love goes into a picture book, but I didn't connect with this story or most of the illustrations. The story itself felt repetitive without there being much actual repetition, and while I can't quite put my finger on why, it might be because so much of the story is told in passive voice.

There's also a very high text-to-image ratio for this age group, and no strong focus on how Darci (the main character) and her choices move the story forward.

The main action the readers see from Darci (and it was a toss up for me whether this was showing or telling) were the initial/experimental drumming, listening to music, worrying about what her brother said, than a string of watching and listening to grown-ups before following their directions (reassurances, the lesson and practicing).

There is a clear sense of Darci's desires, and a child who connects to this story may experience a vicarious experience of wish-fulfillment as they watch Darci move from pots and being criticized (by her brother) to being surprised with all her hopes fulfilled (by her parents).

I'm reading an advance copy (which did not influence my review, even though it was free), so maybe the text and layout will evolve before publication, but I felt the multiple instances of "font enhancement" were distracting. There were lone italicized words here, and all-CAPS there and one sentence where the font color changed three times. All could arguably make sense in context, but I didn't feel they ever enhanced the meaning.

Maybe I missed the point of this story, but I believe it would benefit from further revision before release. It's a terrific concept and could provide visuals and language for young children considering music lessons.

(This review is based on a digital review copy I recieved from the publisher through Net Galley.)

This is a story without words, the pictures tell everything you need to know.
For any young person excited about the drums, it is a must! I appreciated the page honouring drumming stars of the recent past. And, of course, the practice pad... I'm sure parents will also appreciate the message of focus drumming and practice over noisy chaos.
There were some problems with the layout in the ebook I reviewed.

Great picture book about a young girl who drums on everything. Her parents surprise her with drumming lessons so she can learn and practice. Includes names for the drums and parts of a drum set as well as things you'd need to practice. Great book to inspire young musicians!

This children’s book is a great tool for any music teacher or parent to use with children who show a keen interest in learning about various instruments or in particular, the drums. The story follows a young girl named Darci who just wants to learn to play the drums. She drums on everything she can until one day her parents surprise her with drum lessons. The drum lesson is informative but not boring, and is reflective of how lessons are usually taught these days.
I liked the illustrations and the simplicity of the text in Darci’s first lesson which clearly explained the names and uses of each part of the drum kit. I didn’t like Darci’s younger brother Danny who, in all honesty, needed a good kick in the pants from his parents but they did nothing to correct his behaviour (which is where the author lost me on this one).
My daughter enjoyed reading the book with me, and following the ending asked to take drum lessons herself.
The drawings are whimsical and full of detail.
Overall I thought the information was well communicated but in a fun way that kids will enjoy hearing.
I received an ecopy from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Darci the Drummer takes drum lessons deals with something all readers of any age are familair with. The learning of a new hobby, skill. the classes that go into it. The classes that you run out of. The classes that your parents sign you up for. Triumphs and Failures all reel in front of your head.

On rereading I notice, Placement of the text on page is creative. In one page, Darci's shirt is the frame. That sort of captures Darci's passion for drumming and how that is all that matters to her, the practising. In another page, the whole drum set forms the background with text overlaid on it. Also the metronome before its introduction, high on a music sheet holder.

Darci's excitement is palpable. The emotional rollercoaster of learning something new formally is well shown. I love the supportive parents.

Darci the Drummer taught me about famous drummers as well as the "Practice pad" and "metronome". The metronome I am used to hearing about from my musical friends is a different one (shruthi box). Now I also know what tom toms are. And did you know that the drummer's chair is referred to as throne. I didnt know about the accomplished drummers Shiela E, Neil Peat, karen Carpenter and Ringo Starr.

This book was fun to read with a preschooler as I would read about say metronome and ask where it is on the page. With older kids, you can relate it to their trials and tribulations with swimming, soccer, drawing and all things that are frustrating when you cant do them as well as you think you should. I had a similar bout very late after college, where I badly wanted to learn writing and didnt know how. I writhed at a park, but slowly and steadily I inched towards it with reading.

Maybe there will be a sequel to the book, with Darci' s experiences as she grows through this period into an expert.

Darci the Drummer, a picture book for children ages 4-9, tells the tale of a 2nd grade girl who loves to drum. She can’t wait until she can play well with real drums. But her little brother hates the noise, which makes her wonder if she can realize her dream. Her parents, however, give her unexpected drum lessons and show much-needed support. This sweet story highlights the love of music and learning to play it. It also includes musical terms and references famous drummers from different musical generations.

Thanks to Ingram Spark/JWB Professional Services and NetGalley for the review copy, in exchange for my honest opinions.

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