Nana Goes to Jamaica: The Kumina Drums

Nana and Bouba land in Jamaica, and a drum calls to them before they even reach the door. It leads them to Queenie - a bright-smiled new friend named for a real Kumina queen - and into a gathering where drumming, dancing, and singing have been kept alive since her family's ancestors were carried across the sea from Kongo.Nana meets the Kbandu and the Kyas, two drums that talk to each other like old friends, joined by shakas, scrapers, and catta sticks until every hand has a job and every sound belongs. It does not sound anything like his own djembe back home - and yet, somehow, it is unmistakably family. As the music grows from Mento to Ska to the deep heartbeat of Reggae, Nana discovers the thread tying it all together: the djembe in Guinea, the Kumina drum in Jamaica, one reggae beat - all cousins, same root, different branches.Nana Goes to Jamaica: The Kumina Drums is part of the Follow the Sound with Nana picture book collection, and a tribute to real Kumina tradition-bearer Imogene Kennedy, known as Queenie. This book includes a pronunciation guide, a vocabulary index tracing Kumina's music all the way to reggae and dancehall, and a hands-on Make Your Own Shaka activity.