Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake) | J 921 SUBBULAKSHMI | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove) | J 921 SUBBULAKSHMI | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | J 921 SUBBULAKSHMI | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | J 921 SUBBULAKSHMI | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
A picture book biography about M.S. Subbulakshmi, a powerful Indian singer who advocated for justice and peace through song.
Before M.S. Subbulakshmi was a famous Carnatic singer and the first Indian woman to perform at the United Nations, she was a young girl with a prodigious voice.
But Subbulakshmi was not free to sing everywhere. In early 1900s India, girls were not allowed to perform for the public. So Subbulakshmi busted barriers to sing at small festivals. Eventually, she broke tradition to record her first album. She did not stop here. At Gandhi's request, Subbulakshmi sang for India's freedom. Her fascinating odyssey stretched across borders, and soon she was no longer just a young prodigy. She was a woman who changed the world.
Author Notes
Suma Subramaniam is an Indian American author and volunteer for We Need Diverse Books. She is a contributing author for The Hero Next Door (Penguin Random House) and the author of Namaste Is A Greeting (Candlewick). She has an MFA in Writing from Vermont College Of Fine Arts. She Sang For India is her nonfiction picture book debut.
Shreya Gupta is an illustrator and book designer. She is originally from India, but her passion for illustration brought her to the United States, where she pursued an MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay from the School of Visual Arts. Her work has been featured as a "Google Doodle" logo, in the New York Times , Asia Society magazine and in various major publications. She currently lives in New York, NY.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3--Kunja Subbulakshmi sings with her grandmother, mother, and sister as they play the violin, tambura, and veena. Her brother plays a mridangam. Her instrument is her voice, and this takes place at home, for in early-1900s India, she is not allowed to sing in public. So Subbulakshmi breaks some rules to perform at small festivals. Then she makes an album. It takes time and persistence for her to break down barriers, until the day when an illustrious academy that had rejected her finally allows her to perform. History is truly made when Ghandi asks that she sing for India's freedom. This true story will fascinate and charm children who will wonder that the simple act of a girl singing is not permitted. The author does not gloss over the hardships. The illustrations with colorful backdrops and historical details show scene after scene of Subbulakshmi in a closed-eye, beatific state of singing; these are very moving at first though do become repetitive. In a very few pages the book covers India's tumultuous and sorrowful path to independence, a bittersweet depiction that may launch discussion of the costs of freedom. Back matter includes information about Carnatic music, a glossary, time line, and bibliography. VERDICT A wonderful biography for every collection.--Kimberly Olson Fakih
Publisher's Weekly Review
Framing the life of M.S. Subbulakshmi (1916--2004) as a triumph of artistic activism, Subramaniam's accessible, artful biography of the Indian Carnatic singer invites readers to find "your own power and voice." Despite early 20th-century prohibitions against female performers in India, Subbulakshmi begins pursuing a career in Carnatic music at a young age. Eventually pushing through extensive gender barriers, Subbulakshmi is viewed as an international icon when she joins her voice with Mahatma Gandhi's, singing for peace in the effort for India's independence. Text focuses Subbulakshmi's fight against colonialism and sexism; complementing the hopeful tone, Gupta illustrates with a warm palette, representing musical sounds with floral star shapes--a tie-in to the jasmine flowers the figure famously wore in her hair during performances. Back matter includes an author's note and timeline. Ages 4--8. (Nov.)
Kirkus Review
A lyrical commemoration of the power and legacy of a renowned South Indian activist and performer. Readers who know little about M.S. Subbulakshmi's Carnatic music or traditional Indian instruments will come away none the wiser, but the general storyline of a gifted singer who goes from "small-town devadasi girl" to international fame by performing and persisting until barriers of gender prejudice fall away is easy enough to follow and applaud. Aside from identifying Subbulakshmi as the first woman and youngest person ever to perform at the Madras Music Academy and ending with her 1966 performance before the United Nations, Subranamiam largely skips past seven decades of biographical and career highlights (never mentioning her film work, for instance, except in the backmatter). What stands out instead are tributes to her spirit and the spiritual power of her singing in support of India's independence movement and through the heartbreaks of the new country's religious division and Gandhi's assassination. Capped by a beautiful portrait composed of flowers and musical instruments, Gupta's harmonious illustrations follow Subbulakshmi from intimate childhood family concerts to larger stages. The closing notes and definitions are cursory at best, but along with an eloquent summation at the end, the author tucks in snatches of lyrics in Tamil, Hindi, and Sanskrit (as script, transliterations, and English translations) throughout. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A loving invitation to read, and hear, more. (timeline, bibliography) (Picture-book biography. 7-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
This straightforward biography chronicles the life of a woman who is well known throughout India and its diaspora. Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi--aka young Kunja--is raised in a musical home and trained from an early age in the Carnatic tradition of South India. Her family, recognizing her prodigious talent, encourages her to sing publicly at a young age, but sexist values stand in her way, and young Kunja's whole journey is marked by similar obstacles. Her mother is her most ardent supporter and finds opportunities for Kunja to perform in public and make a gramophone record at age 10. The doors to further training at the music academies remain closed to Kunja for a few years, despite her public popularity. Nevertheless, as the title states, Subbulakshmi becomes a national treasure, especially for her role in uplifting the morale of the people during terrible years around Partition in 1947. She Sang for India can be paired thematically with Chris Barton's What Do You Do with a Voice like That? (2018) to show readers how two girls used their voices to serve their communities.
