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 back matter 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.---from the publisher
48 pages 978-0593372760 Ages 4-8
Keywords: biography, performing arts, stuttering, finding your voice, celebrity, actor, overcoming obstacles, 4 year old, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old, 8 year old, African American and Black nonfiction
