Every Little Thing

July 1, 2015

Baby/Toddler-This fun book by Bob Marley's first-born daughter, Cedella, pairs her father's beloved song with images that explore the ups and downs of a child's typical day. An adorable preschooler, sporting a Bob Marley T-shirt, shares a message of peace, love, and harmony. Rainy weather, a lonely child in need of comfort, and a baking project gone awry are opportunities for the boy to remind himself and to reassure those around him that "Every little thing/is gonna be/all right." This lyrical and positive board book will strike a chord with worrywarts and loving children everywhere.

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 17, 2012
The follow-up to this team’s adaptation of Marley’s father’s “One Love” takes another Bob Marley classic and adds two verses (“Run to the playground,/ laugh with my friends and play./ Three little birds,/ perch on the swing set”) to the immediately recognizable lyrics. Brantley-Newton provides polished mixed-media portraits of a dreadlocked boy with a huge grin and young parents who clearly adore him. The three birds of the original song accompany the boy everywhere, hovering outside the window as he gets into trouble with a baking project in the kitchen, then singing to cheer him up, providing an appropriate setting for the reassuring refrain: “Don’t worry/ about a thing,/ ’cause every little thing/ is gonna be all right.” Pictures of the boy playing soccer with his parents and friends, who come from an assortment of ethnic backgrounds, will be appreciated by families and teachers searching for representations of communities that look like theirs. As with the previous volume, Marley fans will have to drag out their old CDs or
vinyl to teach children the melody, since none is supplied with the book. Ages 4–8.

November 1, 2012

PreS-Gr 1-In this picture-book adaptation, Bob Marley's daughter adds three more verses to her father's song "Three Little Birds." Waking up to the sound of harmonizing birds, a boy in a Bob Marley T-shirt sets off in the rain with an umbrella, happily splashing in the puddles. Later, he meets friends at the playground and invites a lonely child to join them. Back at home, he makes an unintentional mess in the kitchen and is comforted by his understanding parents. The birds and his mother and father sing him to sleep in the evening. The final repetition of the refrain, "Don't worry about a thing 'cause every little thing is gonna be all right!" shows the family rejoicing among flowers. Brantley-Newton uses mixed-media and digital art to animate the lyrics. Bright colors and characters with joyful facial expressions capture the celebratory nature of the book. The verses are printed in large type and zigzag on pages containing lots of white space. Readers will enjoy the antics of the boy's cat as it competes with the birds. A feel-good book for larger collections.-Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2012
An effervescent adaptation of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds," with a skinny plotline supplied by the art and new themes and verses added by the songwriter's eldest daughter. Sporting stubby dreadlocks and a broad smile in Brantley-Newton's sunny scenes, a child with Marley's iconic image on his shirt waltzes out to the playground. There, three songbirds (supervised by an alert cat) "perch on the swing set, / Whistling these words, / These harmonies sweet in the air. / Sometimes you just need to show you care..." as he kicks a soccer ball about with both old friends and a newly made one. Later, he makes a gooey mess in the kitchen, earns quick parental forgiveness ("Everyone can make a mistake they say") and is sung to sleep by birds and parents alike. Being given just once each time rather than repeated as in the song, the chorus looks and (read or sung aloud) sounds choppy, but the new lyrics slip easily into the cadences of the old, and by the end, even the cat is dancing. A sweet elaboration of the original's reassuring message that "every little thing is gonna be all right." (afterword) (Picture book. 4-8)

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January 1, 2013
Bob Marley's daughter adapts the lyrics to his song Three Little Birds, reminding a young boy that, despite a mishap or two, every little thing is gonna be all right. As usual with the song-as-picture-book gambit, some magic evaporates along with the melody and instrumentation. The mix of what looks like cartoons, realistic drawings, and collage has patchwork-y charm.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)