The Story of Valerie June’s Sweet Little Baby Banjolele
ABOUT THE BOOK
Once upon a time, a sweet and tiny little instrument was given to a singer named Valerie June. It had a round-face and four strings. It was so small that she thought it was a toy. The banjolele dreamed of singing and playing but never could finish a song, until the instrument’s new friend Valerie believed it could. That’s all the little banjolele needed! The song “Somebody to Love” burst from the banjolele’s strings and the two friends travelled the world together living their dreams!
- Publisher : Third Man Books
- Published : Nov 1, 2022
- Illustrator : Marcela Avelar
- Hardcover : 52 pages
My Thoughts
There are things that I liked about this book and things that didn’t quite work for me. First, the artwork is extremely well done and caught my attention immediately. The pictures are detailed and complement the story beautifully.
As for the story, I loved learning about the banjolele and all of the added information that was provided at the back of the book. But I had trouble with Valerie, the banjolele, and believing.
When Valerie received the banjolele it was so small that it was thought of as a toy. When being played with other instruments it couldn’t finish songs. In time, it was put away and ignored.
Years later, after gathering lots of dust it decides that it wants to play and sing beautiful music. But because it was dusty and can’t immediately perform, the adults laugh and try to decide whether to throw the banjolele in the trash.
But Valerie whispers for the stringed instrument to “believe” and voile . . .
Growing afraid of being tossed out but also growing even bigger, braver because Valerie loved her, the toy finally coughed up the last bit of dust and belted out a GORGEOUS SONG.
This isn’t a gradual thing, but immediately the instrument performs beautifully. Valerie then makes the banjolele part of her traveling show.
My concern. My concern. Was the banjolele not believing and thus couldn’t play beautiful music? Shouldn’t Valerie have been the one playing? Didn’t she lack confidence since she considered it small and more like a toy?
That’s were the story lost me.
At the back of the book, which of course promotes believing in ourselves, is some interesting information about people who had dreams and believed. People such as Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and others are listed with a few sentences about them. There are proverbs that promote believing such as this one.
Everyone who is successful, must have dreamed of something. — NATIVE AMERICAN PROVERB
And of course, information is included about the four-stringed musical banjolele.
Final Thoughts
While I definitely found lots to like about this beautiful little book, the story itself fell short. And if I missed the point of the story, then I’m guessing others might, too.
However, the topic is one well worth sharing with children. And this book can certainly open up some good discussions.
If this one sentence in the book description would have been emphasized in the book, I would have given it 5 stars. “The banjolele dreamed of singing and playing but never could finish a song, until the instrument’s new friend Valerie believed it could.” But it doesn’t come through in the story. Valerie, the person who played the instrument, had to do the believing. We don’t see Valerie playing. She just whispers to the banjolele.
My thanks to Wundkind PR and the publisher for a copy of the book and the ability to post my thoughts without any stipulations.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Valerie June Hockett is a Grammy nominated singer, songwriter, and multi- instrumentalist from Tennessee. She’s been published in the New York Times, which has also hailed her as one of America’s “most intriguing, fully formed new talents.” She has recorded four critically acclaimed, best-selling solo albums and has also written songs for legendary artists such as Mavis Staples and The Blind Boys of Alabama. June has performed on The Tonight Show, The Late Show,Austin City Limits, Rachael Ray, and CBS Saturday Morning, and graced some of the world’s most prestigious stages, from Carnegie Hall to the Kennedy Center. She’s part of the Turnaround Arts program originally started by First Lady Michelle Obama and now a program of the Kennedy Center. Also a poet, her first collection Maps for the Modern World was published in April 2021 by Andrews McMeel Publishing. When she’s not touring, June splits her time between Tennessee and New York.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Marcela Avelar is a Mexican-born artist based in New York City. She is the founder of a not-for-profit digital art collective called The Artruist. Her work can be seen in advertisements as well as album covers for musicians like Special K’s, Aloysius 3, So Brown, Wes Hutchinson and 9 time Grammy Award winner Norah Jones. She also designed the stage for Norah Jones’ 2017 Day Breaks World Tour. In 2018, Marcela’s artwork was part of an exhibit in New Paltz, NY celebrating Mexican Women Artists, Artbath, a monthly performance series in NYC and she is working on her next solo exhibit. Currently, she is in collaboration with a Mexico based developer to create unique designs for tiles and textiles.
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