Ordinary Days: The Seeds, Sound, and City That Grew Prince Rogers Nelson

by Angela Joy, Jacqueline Alcántara (Illustrator)

Overview

A rhythmic, striking picture book biography of legendary singer/songwriter/performer Prince.

Before he became a legend, he was just a boy…

On an ordinary day, you could see him. A young boy named Prince Rogers Nelson, who had parents who fought, nowhere to call home, and a collection of memories turned into sound: the shouts of anger, the purr of pigeons, the roar of cars down a busy Minneapolis street, and the whisper of cold wind on budding lilac bushes.

Other sounds joined in as he taught himself to play the guitar, piano, drums, and much more, leading to the day this ordinary boy began to make music—and became extraordinary.

Black Is a Rainbow Color and Choosing Brave author Angela Joy’s exquisite words harmonize with acclaimed illustrator Jacqueline Alcántara’s sweeping art to create a tender, profound look into music icon Prince's early life and the moments that shaped him.

Ordinary Days also includes an extensive author’s note and playlist of recommended Prince songs suitable for young listeners.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250357663
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	10/24/2023
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	41 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Angela Joy was born and raised in North Minneapolis, MN, half a block from the little pink house that Prince called home. She found inspiration, training, and opportunity within his tight-knit community of artistic colleagues, priming her for a successful career in music. In 1999 she performed live with Prince at Madison Square Garden. Angela now uses lessons learned in music to write lyrical poetry, including the award-winning books Black is a Rainbow Color and Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement.

Jacqueline Alcántara is the award-winning illustrator of The Field and its companion Climb On!, both written by Baptiste Paul, Freedom Soup, written by New York Times bestselling author Tami Charles, Jump at the Sun, written by Newbery Honoree Alicia D. Williams, and Your Mama, written by NoNieqa Ramos, which was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. Her works have received multiple starred reviews and been named Best Books of the Year by Kirkus, School Library Journal, Shelf Awareness and The Horn Book, among others. She draws and teaches illustration in Chicago, IL.

Angela Joy was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Before graduating Summa Cum Laude from the University of Minnesota, she attended New York University and Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia—where her heart will forever reside. Angela traveled abroad extensively as a background vocalist, also working in television and movie soundtracks. She currently lives in southern California with her husband and two children, writing from a small hallway desk where the walls are painted a royal shade of purple.
Jacqueline Alcántara is the award-winning illustrator of The Field and its companion Climb On!, both written by Baptiste Paul, Freedom Soup, written by New York Times bestselling author Tami Charles, Jump at the Sun, written by Newbery Honoree Alicia D. Williams, and Your Mama, written by NoNieqa Ramos, which was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. Her works have received multiple starred reviews and been named Best Books of the Year by Kirkus, School Library Journal, Shelf Awareness and The Horn Book, among others. She draws and teaches illustration in Chicago, IL.

Editorial Reviews

10/16/2023

Via emotional verse and lavender-tinged spreads, Joy and Alcántra capture the life and artistry of Prince Rogers Nelson (1958–2016) in this evocative picture book. Growing up with financial precarity in a tumultuous household, Prince found comfort in everyday music, from clanking dishes to his father’s piano playing (“Hard and round, he carried sound like seeds or lucky pennies”). After he received his first guitar, music became his “most faithful friend,” allowing him “to play what he’d been hiding deep in pockets.” Joy’s assonant free verse and Alcántra’s purple and gray watercolor washes create a contemplative mood, the art palette warming as an often-spotlit Prince finds his musical voice. A harmony of poetry and artwork conveys few biographical details, included in a lengthy author’s note. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. A playlist concludes. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"This poetic picture-book biography is a sensitively expressed tribute... Through its compelling poetry, this poignant perspective on Prince’s boyhood illuminates the moments that led an ordinary boy to become a musician of extraordinary accomplishments." —Booklist

"The rhythm of Joy’s poetic text matches the rhythm of Prince’s early life... [this] telling of Prince’s childhood will resonate with young people who use art to find meaning in difficult days." —Horn Book

"[A] lyrical tribute to the groundbreaking Black musician." —Kirkus

"Via emotional verse and lavender-tinged spreads, Joy and Alcántra capture the life and artistry of Prince Rogers Nelson (1958–2016) in this evocative picture book." —Publishers Weekly

"In this visually gorgeous, poetic homage to Prince, readers are introduced to a brilliant musician who often drew on his painful early childhood as inspiration for his work... [T]his is a noteworthy, introductory look at a truly astonishing musician." —BCCB

"This is a bold biography, finding inspiration from the subject and universalizing Prince’s creativity through a gentle approach. It’s perfect for elementary schools, especially as applied to music and art." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

11/01/2023

PreS-Gr 3—The formula for biographies aimed at children can feel stale after a while: a person is born, overcomes hardship, and succeeds. This is a fresh take, expertly marrying pictures and text to the spirit of legendary musician Prince. The cresting wave of a story details a quiet boy rising through experiences, exploding in a performance full of future potential, before gently receding to show the boy gathering seeds for future beauty. Illustrations fill in narrative gaps. Details of Prince's life are told through swirling purple-tinged pictures. This frees up the text to take on a more lyrical slant. The words focus on the birth of sound, rhythmically echoing Prince's music. It's an incredible showcase found in "shouts and silence, slamming doors; whispering lilacs, basement floors." This dabbles in themes of overcoming difficulties and hard work, but cleverly twists them to value quiet curiosity and observation. Beauty is not in the flash of genius. It's in the "ordinary day," of holding those glories close until they become extraordinary. VERDICT This is a bold biography, finding inspiration from the subject and universalizing Prince's creativity through a gentle approach. It's perfect for elementary schools, especially as applied to music and art.—Cat McCarrey

School Library Journal

2023-07-26
Lavender-washed pages background this picture-book tribute to Prince.

Author Joy grew up in Prince’s childhood neighborhood in Minneapolis’ Northside and even performed with him once; her lyrical tribute to the groundbreaking Black musician is allusive and evocative, eliciting feelings rather than unreeling facts. “Shouts and silence, / slamming doors; / whispering lilacs, basement floors; / the thud of a basketball, / boom-boom; / the echo of lonely in / a crowded room.” Lines such as these paint a picture of an unnamed “beautiful boy” and a difficult childhood characterized by hunger and a constant shuffle from household to household. Basketball and, especially, music coaxed from a guitar lightened these “ordinary days.” Alcántara contributes vignettes of a small but recognizable Prince huddling beneath a piano or sleeping on a couch. These images of unsettled unhappiness are balanced by paintings of the young artist concentrating with his eyes closed over a guitar or piano, the lavender hues warming to purple with the introduction of red tones. A three-page author’s note furnishes any facts that the primary text elides; children content to mull over its moods can do so, while their caregivers can glean necessary context for when their little ones ask questions. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Children will come away with a hazy sense of Prince but a firmer grasp on the healing power of music in hard times. (discography) (Picture-book biography. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews