Faraway Drums is a story about two sisters who stay home alone because their mom haves to go to work. The story was disappointing and much of it was repetitive and boring. I like how the the author does include African culture into the story, but I feel like she could of done it differently to make the story better. The illustrations were good and I enjoyed them. ( )

This was really an excellent pairing of author and illustrator. Virginia Kroll is a master of numerous literary devices and it is evidenced throughout this book. Floyd Cooper's illustrations are tough to improve upon. It's a sad circumstance that the two girls must live in such conditions, but with the help of their imaginations they are able to compensate for a bad situation. I loved that it transitioned from the older sister rationalizing the noises outside of their apartment to her younger sister to the other way around at the end. This was really an effective book. ( )