Description

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Before legendary actor James Earl Jones was recognized for his memorable, smooth voice, he was just James--a stutterer who stopped speaking for eight years as a child...and ultimately found his voice through poetry.

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.

About the Author

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Kari Lavelle is the author of We Move the World, illustrated by Nabi H. Ali, as well as the Butt or Face? series. She has always had a love of words: as a kid reading books, as a speech pathologist helping children communicate, and now as a writer creating stories. She lives in Austin, Texas with her human family and their dog, Dobby.

Bryan Collier has illustrated more than thirty-five picture books, including the award-winning Trombone Shorty, Dave the Potter, and Knock Knock: My Father’s Dream for Me, as well as City Shapes and Fifty Cents and a Dream, and has received four Caldecott Honors and six Coretta Scott King Awards. He recently illustrated Thurgood, which received four starred reviews and was a Washington Post and Bank Street Best Book of the Year. Bryan lives with his wife and children in Marlboro, New York.

Praise For…

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"A testament to poetry’s expressive powers." —Kirkus Reviews