Beat the Story Drum, Pum-Pum by Ashley Bryan

Since it’s Monday, this is a very late edition of Fantastic Fiction Friday. While not necessarily an art book, Beat the Story Drum, Pum-Pum by Ashley Bryan is a great book to use as a read aloud when learning about African Djembe Drums or making your own drum.

Beat the Story Drum, Pum-Pum is a collection of African stories that have been passed down from generation to generation in story and song. During these storytelling session, someone often kept the beat on a drum. What I love about this book is the rhythm of the sentences. You can easily imagine the drum beat when you read this book. The stories beg to be read aloud.

The book includes five stories, each of which includes a lesson, though the lessons are a bit darker than what we are used to in the U.S. For example, the first story is about a frog and a hen who are trying to escape a storm. As the storm approaches, Hen builds a house and a bed, collects corn, and rolls some pumpkins onto the roof. Frog refuses to help. When his hole floods he weasels his way into Hen’s house by threatening to call the cat. In the end, Hen sends Frog to the roof to get a pumpkin where he is scooped up by a hawk. Hen eats her pumpkin with satisfaction.

I recommend this book for 3rd graders and older.

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African Djembe Drums

Djembe (Jem-Bay) drums are traditional African drums. Each drum is carved by hand from a single piece of hardwood. The inside is carved with a special design that makes the sound more beautiful when the drum is played. Often the outside is decorated, too.

Goat skin is stretched over the top of the finished Djembe drum. The skin is attached to the drum by many strings. The strings can be tightened to change the sound that comes out of the drum. Sometimes, instead of goat skins, zebra, antelope, deer, calf, or camel skins are used.

A finished Djembe drum is believed to have three spirits inside of it. It has the spirit of the tree that the drum was made from, the spirit of the animal that gave its skin, and the spirit of the drum maker. This makes each drum special.

Check out this collection of African drums.

Listen to a clip of Djembe drumming. Click on the link that says “Main Instrument: Djembe, length 1min.” It’s worth a listen.

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