One Love (Bob Marley #1)

by Cedella Marley (Author) Vanessa Newton (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade
Series: Bob Marley

Adapted from one of Bob Marley's most beloved songs, One Love brings the joyful spirit and unforgettable lyrics of his music to life for a new generation. Readers will delight in dancing to the beat and feeling the positive groove of change when one girl enlists her community to help transform her neighborhood for the better.

Adapted by Cedella Marley, Bob Marley's first child, and gorgeously illustrated by Vanessa Newton, this heartwarming picture book offers an upbeat testament to the amazing things that can happen when we all get together with one love in our hearts.

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Publishers Weekly

As she did in Three Little Birds (Tuff Gong, 2006), Cedella Marley adapts a song by her late father, reggae musician Bob Marley. She takes liberties with the lyrics: other than the song's chorus ("One love, one heart, let's get together and feel all right!"), the prose bears no resemblance to the original song. Marley replaces religious references with nature-based reflections on love: "One love, what the flower gives the bee./ One love, what Mother Earth gives the tree." Readers rely more on Brantley-Newton's (Let Freedom Sing) cheery, mixed-media illustrations to follow the book's plot, in which a girl galvanizes her multiethnic community to pick up litter and plant flowers to open "One Love Park," their cooperative efforts driving home the "let's get together" thrust of the refrain. Filled with patterned materials and bold colors, Brantley-Newton's illustrations are as sunny as the characters' dispositions, and the scenes include several visual nods to Bob Marley. Conflict-free, it's simply a feel-good story of a community coming together--though unfortunately, not one readers can really sing along with. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

PreS-K--The message of this picture-book adaptation of the famous reggae musician's well-known song is laudable, and the words are simple and rhythmic: "One love, what my family gives to me. One love, what the flower gives the bee. One love, what Mother Earth gives the tree. One love, one heart, let's get together and feel all right!" This tribute by Marley's daughter contains a few lyrics on each page against a backdrop of Brantley-Newton's exuberant illustrations that tell the story of urban neighbors creating a park from what was once a garbage-strewn lot. The illustrations do the bulk of the work in this title, which would work well with Pat Brisson's Wanda's Roses (Boyds Mills, 2000).--Lisa Egly Lehmuller, St. Patrick's Catholic School, Charlotte, NC

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"A feel-good story of a community coming together" - Publishers Weekly
Cedella Marley
Bob Marley (1945-1981) was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician whose "One Love" was named song of the millennium by the BBC in 1999.

Cedella Marley has dedicated herself to keeping her father's message and memory alive, and performs with the Melody Makers internationally. She lives in Miami, Florida.

Vanessa Brantley-Newton is an author and illustrator. She lives in East Orange, New Jersey.
Classification
-
ISBN-13
9781452138558
Lexile Measure
240
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Chronicle Books
Publication date
September 09, 2014
Series
Bob Marley
BISAC categories
JUV039000 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | General
Library of Congress categories
Love
Songs
Childrens songs
Library Media Connection, 03/01/12

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