ODE TO GRAPEFRUIT: HOW JAMES EARL JONES FOUND HIS VOICE, by Kari Lavelle and Bryan Collier, Knopf Books for Young Readers, July 30, 2024, Hardcover, $19.99 (ages 4-8)
Ode to Grapefruit: How James Earl Jones Found His Voice tells the story of how the famous actor overcame his stuttering to become one of the best-known voices in the world.
Before there was Mufasa…Before there was Darth Vader… There was a young boy names James Earl Jones, who spoke with a stutter and dreaded having to talk in class.
Whenever James tried to voice his thoughts, his words got stuck in his throat. But James figured out a solution for his shame: if he didn’t speak, he wouldn’t stutter.
And so he was silent…until he wrote his own poem, Ode to Grapefruit, and found a love for poetry.
Lyrical text, stunning art, and compelling backmatter about stuttering pair together for a remarkable picture book about how a boy who refused to speak for eight years learned to manage his stutter through poetry—and grew up to become an EGOT-winning performer with a voice few could forget. —Synopsis provided by Knopf Books for Young Readers
James Earl Jones has a voice you never forget. Whether you first hear it in The Lion King or Star Wars or even The Sandlot, you can’t help but stop whatever you’re doing and listen.
When James was young, his stutter made him silent, but when he found the rhythm and meaning behind words, he was able to find his voice.
Author Kari Lavelle’s prose is such that you feel the weight behind it. You can almost hear James say the words. It, too, has a smooth cadence to it. Artist Bryan Collier’s watercolor and collage illustrations have a lovely texture, perfectly pairing with the text.
Excellent backmatter includes further information about James Earl Jones through author and illustrator notes and information about stuttering.
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