The Band in Our ­Basement

K-Gr 3–Setting up a funky vibe with rhymes and changing rhythms, Baptist propels two children with brown skin who are supposed to go to sleep out of their beds in response to the sounds of their daddy’s band—first to dance on their beds, and then to sneak downstairs for a closer listen, arriving just as their mama takes the microphone to sing. But Mama is on their case: “My my my, funny as can be!/ Got four li’l eyes think I don’t see./ My my my, hear what I say:/ Those four li’l feet betta scurry away!” There’s still time to join the small but diverse basement ensemble for a glorious intergenerational jam before stumbling back to bed and nodding off to dream of being two more in Daddy’s band. Mohammed’s rolling illustrations, culminating in a bright and jazzy wordless spread of swirling notes and colors, capture the driving sound of the music and the joy it brings to make and hear it. From that sonic height, the art’s general hues switch to a cooler, bluer cast, winding down to a supple and evocative dreamscape.