Welcome to one of the March 4th stops on the blog tour for The Nightingale’s Song by Andrea Torrey Balsara, organized by Silver Dagger Book Tours. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlight features, other reviews, guest post spots by the author, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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The Nightingale’s Song
by Andrea Torrey Balsara
Published 22 October 2019
FriesenPress
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Page Count: 32
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
“Last night I had a dream
That my skin was brown, like mahogany.
My outside had changed, but my inside was ME,
And a nightingale sang from the nearby tree…”
Throughout one magical night, a child dreams of
a world in which diversity is celebrated, and the
beauty of every child cherished.
“Brothers and sisters we shall be,
Stars of one sky, leaves of one tree…”
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My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Consider liking my review on Goodreads.
I was granted a complimentary review copy of The Nightingale’s Song via Silver Dagger Book Tours as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
The Nightingale’s Song is a beautifully illustrated rhyming story about a child dreaming that they suddenly look different, but nothing inside has changed and they are still the same person. I would like to applaud the artist behind the beautiful pieces in this book! Very well done, this is gorgeous.
As for the story itself, I’m of two minds about how to rate and review this. From a technical standpoint, the poetic prose is pretty, flows well, and will appeal to the intended target age group. The intended purpose of this story, showing kids that people with a different amount of melanin are still ordinary people who think and feel the same as they do, is noble.
So what’s giving me pause? The structure of this book is “I dreamed that I was [colour]” then the nightingale sings about all being the same, repeat until we’ve covered five colours: brown, red, white, black, tan. First of all, I’m not sure if the lack of deeper substance is excusable based on the age this is written for, but I’ve reviewed books of this level in the last year that are handling anti-racism at a higher level. Second and more importantly, red? That made my skin crawl. This is 2021 and we accept that “redskin” is a slur. It feels odd that the author (or editor) knew not to say yellow but still said red.
If that point doesn’t bother you, or if you’re willing to address why that’s a possible issue with slightly older kids you might read this book to, then this is a beautiful set of pictures paired with a pretty poem that just wants the reader/listener to know that we’re all the same inside. It may be a cute book to give to a child who hasn’t had much exposure to people who don’t look like them as a gateway to having deeper discussions.
Andrea Torrey Balsara is a Canadian children’s author and illustrator who writes and illustrates for ages 3 and up. She is involved with children’s empowerment, and works to create stories that not only make children laugh, but makes them think. Her latest illustrated book, GREENBEARD THE PIRATE PIG , is a whimsical adventure about a guinea pig with a dream.
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The giveaway happening along with this tour has so many prizes!
- 1 winner: $10 Amazon gift card
- 3 winners: signed copy of The Nightingale’s Song
- 10 winners: PDF digital copy of The Nightingale’s Song
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