"Although In the Time of the Drums' is full of slavery s unhappy history, it is a fine example of a genre paradoxically remarkable for the comfort and sustenance it delivers. Brian Pinkney s gentle and luminous scratchboard illustrations provide subtly intelligent counterpoint to the text. On one page, for example, Mentu, who is big enough to carry two buckets of water, complains about the burden; Twi insists that he do so as practice for what is coming when he is an adult. Yet Pinkney s illustration shows Twi carrying two buckets of water while Mentu carries only one. It is a perfect representation of one of the complex necessities of African-American life: the verbal chiding as public warning; the practice, unspoken, made kinder. It is that breath of kindness that lingers in the wake of this book Grandmother Twi s love for her grandson, Mentu, a love he in turn passes on to his children and they to theirs. Above all, and despite all, a currency of hope." --The New York Times Book Review "The New York Times Book Review "

"Although In the Time of the Drums' is full of slavery s unhappy history, it is a fine example of a genre paradoxically remarkable for the comfort and sustenance it delivers. Brian Pinkney s gentle and luminous scratchboard illustrations provide subtly intelligent counterpoint to the text. On one page, for example, Mentu, who is big enough to carry two buckets of water, complains about the burden; Twi insists that he do so as practice for what is coming when he is an adult. Yet Pinkney s illustration shows Twi carrying two buckets of water while Mentu carries only one. It is a perfect representation of one of the complex necessities of African-American life: the verbal chiding as public warning; the practice, unspoken, made kinder. It is that breath of kindness that lingers in the wake of this book Grandmother Twi s love for her grandson, Mentu, a love he in turn passes on to his children and they to theirs. Above all, and despite all, a currency of hope."

Kim L. Siegelson is the author of several picture books, as well as a popular speaker at conferences, writing workshops, and school visits. She grew up hearing the unforgettable account of Africans walking into the water near Georgia’s Sapelo Island, and this story became the inspiration for In the Time of the Drums. Siegelson lives with her family in Atlanta, Georgia.

Brian Pinkney is the acclaimed illustrator of numerous award-winning books. In addition to the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for In the Time of the Drums, he has been honored with two Caldecott Medal Honors, four Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Honors, and the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award. Pinkney lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and frequent collaborator, Andrea Davis Pinkney, and their two children.