Every Little Thing (Bob Marley #2)

The follow-up to this team's adaptation of Marley's father's "One Love" takes another Bob Marley classic and adds two verses ("Run to the playground, / laugh with my friends and play./ Three little birds, / perch on the swing set") to the immediately recognizable lyrics. Brantley-Newton provides polished mixed-media portraits of a dreadlocked boy with a huge grin and young parents who clearly adore him. The three birds of the original song accompany the boy everywhere, hovering outside the window as he gets into trouble with a baking project in the kitchen, then singing to cheer him up, providing an appropriate setting for the reassuring refrain: "Don't worry/ about a thing, / 'cause every little thing/ is gonna be all right." Pictures of the boy playing soccer with his parents and friends, who come from an assortment of ethnic backgrounds, will be appreciated by families and teachers searching for representations of communities that look like theirs. As with the previous volume, Marley fans will have to drag out their old CDs or vinyl to teach children the melody, since none is supplied with the book. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

PreS-Gr 1--In this picture-book adaptation, Bob Marley's daughter adds three more verses to her father's song "Three Little Birds." Waking up to the sound of harmonizing birds, a boy in a Bob Marley T-shirt sets off in the rain with an umbrella, happily splashing in the puddles. Later, he meets friends at the playground and invites a lonely child to join them. Back at home, he makes an unintentional mess in the kitchen and is comforted by his understanding parents. The birds and his mother and father sing him to sleep in the evening. The final repetition of the refrain, "Don't worry about a thing 'cause every little thing is gonna be all right!" shows the family rejoicing among flowers. Brantley-Newton uses mixed-media and digital art to animate the lyrics. Bright colors and characters with joyful facial expressions capture the celebratory nature of the book. The verses are printed in large type and zigzag on pages containing lots of white space. Readers will enjoy the antics of the boy's cat as it competes with the birds. A feel-good book for larger collections.--Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT