Drum, Chavi, Drum! / ¡Toca, Chavi, Toca!

Summary of Book

Tun-TUN-dun-TUN! Even though nobody in her Cuban-American neighborhood thinks girls should play the drums, Chavi knows she was born to drum. And the whole world is her instrument: she drums on paint cans, sofa arms, even on her mother’s cheeks. Her favorites, however, are the tumbadoras, the conga drums that liven the Caribbean music she and her neighbors love. So, when she’s not picked to play on the school float for the festival on Miami’s Calle Ocho, she decides to do something about it!

Mayra Lazara Dole’s plucky little musician will drum her way into the hearts of young readers, while Tonel’s wonderfully quirky illustrations capture Calle Ocho, its inhabitants, and celebrations' heart-thumping energy.

Author Biography

Mayra L. Dole was born in Havana Cuba, and raised in Hialeah, a Miami Cuban barrio. She is a prolific writer, a passionate cook, and an advocate for the environment. Mayra worked for Miami-Dade Public Library System. She is the author of Birthday in the Barrio and the YA novel, Down to the Bone. She loves nature and animals and has also been a dancer, landscape designer, chef, musician, and hairstylist.

Illustrator Biography

Tonel is a visual artist and art critic who was born in Havana, Cuba, where he illustrated several children’s books. His work for grownups has been exhibited in North and South America, the Caribbean, and Europe. He received a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in the Humanities and a John S. Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship for painting and installation art. He lives and teaches in Vancouver, British Columbia.