#aura lewis

[booksandwords]

Steve Jobs by Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara. Illustrated by Aura Lewis

Age Recommendation: Early Primary Topic/ Theme: Creativity, Engineering, Biographic Setting: Largely America Series: Little People, Big Dreams

Rating: 4/5

I can see why Steve Jobs has a LPBD book. He started one of the most influential technology companies in history, but I can't see the angle Sánchez Vegara saw trying to hit. It seems to be a bit of a follow-your-own-path story, it goes through what Steve did on his way to starting Apple, perhaps the things that started that formed the foundational beliefs or principles of Apple. It's not a poorly written story or an unwelcome one I like it but it doesn't feel as though it has such a potent or pointed message as some others in the series. What it does give is something for the parents. We are shown young Steve, and the things that he did as a child, that not so much set him apart but made him a bit different. This includes finding school uninteresting/ unappealing but being fascinated by electronics and how stuff works. These are the potential marks of someone with skills in practical engineering (there is a better word for that but I can't think of what it's called). There is a degree of representation in Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs was adopted, not something that appears in biographies for children frequently.

Lewis has given this book lovely illustrations. I really like her take on Steve Jobs, he has a wonderful expression. Apple is famed for its rainbow collection of colours for its releases that is shown frequently. Including on the final page with Jobs, 🌈 slipping and sliding down a rainbow. The illustrations create a constant through our walk of his life that sometimes makes unexpected jumps. The pastels are a great choice but there is no real consistent colour that I could see. The illustrations are just done well, they were clearly thought out to match the subject and not just the story written by Sánchez Vegara and do raise the rating of the book for me.

[b-list-tributes]

Aura Lewis – Singer (March 4, 1947 – December 28, 2015)

 Reggae music can be seen as the gateway between the head and the heart – where ideas, pleas and protests swarm atop melodies and grooves that surpass the secular, appearing to draw from the earth's most primal and exalted life energy. Aura Lewis had the fortuitous opportunity to dip her fingers into this spiritual funk in the peak of its global golden age.

Having moved from South Africa to New York on a scholarship from Hunter College in 1968, Ms. Lewis married into the world of music when she wed jazz drummer Art Lewis in 1972. From there she began writing songs of her own, and soon she was singing backup for Jimmy Cliff as he toured West Africa. When the tour wrapped up she found herself in a London studio, watching as the great Bob Marley worked with Lee "Scratch" Perry on a track for what would become his Exodus album.

Ms. Lewis was invited to sing backup on the track. Though "Punky Reggae Party" never appeared on the album, it was released as the B-side to "Jammin'" in some countries, then as a successful 12" single on its own in the UK. Ms. Lewis was then invited by Mr. Perry to join his project called Full Experience, with which she recorded one album.

Aura Lewis continued to work with Jimmy Cliff, and then forged her own dent on the local music scenes in Paris, Brussels and ultimately back to Johannesburg. She played a part in bringing greatness to the world, and for that she has earned a holy