Ordinary Days: The Seeds, Sound, and City that Grew Prince Rogers Nelson by Angela Joy (review)

Reviewed by: Ordinary Days: The Seeds, Sound, and City that Grew Prince Rogers Nelson by Angela Joy April Spisak Joy, Angela Ordinary Days: The Seeds, Sound, and City that Grew Prince Rogers Nelson; illus. by Jacqueline Alcántara. Roaring Brook, 2023 [32p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781250797032 $19.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 1-4 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. Before Prince was a magnetic star, he was a quiet boy who rarely had the security of a loving family, a stable home, or access to enough food. Music was a refuge, and it became a path out of his (mostly unhappy) childhood. The book's vibe, much like its artist subject, is cool and effortless as short, often rhyming, snippets of text pair with lavender-hued artwork to capture the essence of Prince as a lonely, scared kid while also hinting at the transformation to come. Alcántara's lush, watercolor pieces are at their best when they are full-page illustrations that communicate with the audience without words. Unfortunately, a lack of source notes makes it difficult to sort opinion from fact, and this is particularly troubling in the dense author's note where, for example, assumptions seem to be made about the cause of Prince's unsuccessful personal relationships. Taken primarily as an evocative mood piece, however, this is a noteworthy, introductory look at a truly astonishing musician, and young audiences are in for some fantastic (and non-explicit) listening via the well-curated family playlist that captures different eras of his career. [End Page 105] Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois