Erin Dealey

Today is the Book Birthday of The First Drum I Ever Heard,

the debut, solo picture book by author, composer,and singer-songwriter Randy Preston,

illus. Tamisha Anthony (Nancy Paulsen Books / Penguin).

About the Book:

“…. Pulsing with exuberant and playful energy, Preston’s upbeat rhyme and repetition in this picture book focus on the nurturing power of mothers and the deep affection for musical storytelling. Viewers will be drawn to the diverse range of drums featuring steel pans, whirling drums, and djembes (hand drums), each of which are described by the joyful sound they make… This is a sweet tale of parental love that will encourage young readers to listen to the drumbeats inside them and share their music to the world.”

—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“…A Black parent and child move through this rhyming story in a joyful, fast-paced drumming adventure… Its sweet message…Love, music, and identity are all tied to an inner beat. A heartfelt celebration of rhythm and motherhood.”

—Kirkus

About the Author:

Randy Preston is an African Native American (Piscataway) singer-songwriter, author, composer, educator, and storyteller. Raised in the UK, Zimbabwe, and Kenya, he developed an early love of the myths and legends surrounding him, including the songs and stories of his own Piscataway people. He has spent the past several years collaborating with authors including Kwame Alexander, co-authoring, and narrating How to Sing a Song. The First Drum I Ever Heard is his debut as a solo picture book author. He lives in, writes about, and wanders the forests of his homeland known as Maryland.

We have Questions:

Inspiration

Q 1.  What was the inspiration for this book? Did you always know this would be a picture book or did it start as a poem, song, or performance piece?

Randy Preston: I was in a conversation with my friend, the amazing writer Leah Henderson, and she asked me what the first instrument was that I remembered hearing.  I said it was my mother’s heartbeat and her immediate response was – “that’s a kids book!” I laughed then stopped and wrote about 8 or 10 lines of the poem right then. The rest, is, as they say, historic.

Q 2. They say a tiny part of each book is autobiographical. Are there parts of your early experiences with music in The First Drum I Ever Heard? 

Randy Preston: I think the idea was an honest response to Leah’s question, and I don’t relate it to a specific item or action other than an answer to the conversational query posed.  I have often wondered about my life in the womb, and this idea made it something I could really address from that perspective. I enjoyed solving the creative puzzle of how to capture the idea in words.

Discoveries and Surprises

Q 3.   Were there any discoveries or surprises that occurred when you were working on this book? 

Randy Preston: I think the central idea, that we all hear our mother’s heartbeat as one of the primary sounds of our development, has stayed with me.  As well as the sound of the heart being ‘lub dub’.

My mother, Dr. Preston, was the chair of a college of nursing, and is also a midwife.  We’ve had lovely discussions about the physical nature of heartbeats and the poem itself. And I remain surprised at how much this idea resonates with people, especially the women in my life with whom I’ve shared this.  While it’s incredibly true, it’s one of those things on which we don’t often dwell.  I think we need to consider it way more than we do, with deep gratitude.

Q 4. What surprises did illustrator Tamisha Anthony bring to The First Drum I Ever Heard?  

Randy Preston: The biggest surprise for me was that the mother in the story was a drummer!  That was an idea I hadn’t imagined at all and it melted my heart when I saw it.  It’s so synchronous.

The artwork in this book is so beautiful it took my breath away when I first saw it. And the colors and life within the spreads are sublime. I’m honored that Tamisha’s artwork elevated the poem with such gorgeous and lively images, which brought the whole book to life in a way I hadn’t conceived it could be done.  

Favorites

Q 5. Which spread or text is your favorite? 

Randy Preston: I love the artwork on pages 16 and 17.  I was curious about how Tamisha would show the child in the womb and what she came up with is so beautiful I gasped when I saw it.  I adore all the artwork in the book, but this was a concept I’d worried about and her interpretation of the idea was absolutely precious.  I’m grateful.  

I particularly like the line –

‘If you listen real closely, you’ll find that you, too, have a beat pulsing inside, that’s the rhythm of you.’  

One of the most important things readers can take away from a good book is a sense of connection to others.  The fact that all mammals have the same sound blanketing their earliest memories should make us remember how connected and real this living experiences can be.  We all share a similar origin story, and we keep a part of that inside of us for our whole lives.  Lub dub indeed!

Q 6. Which drum or beat resonates the most with you?

a.      Bass drum

b.     Snare drum

c.      Steel drum

d.     Rattle drum 

e.     Your choice

Randy Preston: Oh this is a hard question.  I love them all – rhythm is a massive part of my life as a musician and composer.  

Of the drums listed, I love the steel drum or steel pan the best.  It’s a locally created drum, found in Trinidad and Tobago, and steel drum ensembles use the instruments to play melodies and harmonies which is such a cool thing to me.  Plus I love the sound of a steel drum/pan orchestra. It’s so joyful and alive.

I also love the sound of a go go percussion section, and the drum kit laying down the beat in a highlife song. Rhythms make us move involuntarily, and it’s such a fun thing element of life that brings listeners closer together, through the beat and into the groove. 

Takeaways

Q 7. What do you hope readers will take away from this story?

Randy Preston: I hope that readers of all ages will walk away from the story considering the sacrifice that each of our mothers made in bringing us into the world and how connected our heartbeats make us, to our mothers, to our families and our friends.  

As human beings and creatures on this planet, we are more alike that we are unalike. And every human has shared in this experience of recognizing and responding to the living heart of their mother.  No wonder infant children think they and their mother are the same creature in the beginning.  They literally are at one stage.  We are  all connected by our first memories of the sound of life. That’s something that should be remembered.

Q 8. What new projects are you working on now? 

Randy Preston: I’m working on an amazing project with musicians in Ghana and Rwanda and Kenya creating music and art to support ecological restoration projects and thinking throughout those local landscapes.  I love the work as I’m always creating new songs in diverse spaces.  

I’m finishing book one of a middle grade series about a young boy chosen to share the stories of the forest creatures around his cabin to other humans, and editing a huge dystopian YA novel about three teenagers surviving friendship, betrayal and lots of cruel enemies in a climate affected wasteland that was once Maryland, something that I think YA readers will adore.

Q 9.  Is there a question you wish I’d asked?

Randy Preston: One question I would ask myself is – How did this work make you feel about your own mother or your own parents?  

The answer is clear to me – I appreciate the wonder and sacrifice she chose to offer by carrying me for 9 months and then with my father’s help, raising me until I could walk, dress, speak and eat for myself.  This gift of caring is something for which every human needs to be grateful everyday.  I love you Mommy!  And I love you Daddy!

Endless thanks to Randy Preston for joining us on the blog today.

And Happy Book Birthday to The First Drum I Ever Heard.

To learn more about Randy and his work,

Check out his website: randypreston.com

And follow him on social media: @randysartnstuff on instagram and Threads,

@randy.preston1 on Facebook.

*We’ll be back in September to celebrate John Schu’s Lily May’s Joyful Day,

illus. Holly Hatam (Candlewick).

Until then, Happy Reading –and be kind to each other.