Jana Bent hosts book listening

• Environmental emphasis at Bookland presentation
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Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Jana Bent's presentation of The Reggae Band Rescues Mama Edda Leatherback at Bookland, New Kingston, on Saturday was more of a listening than a traditional reading. Instead of reading from the colourful, high-quality print book she played the accompanying CD and went around to the children and children at heart in the audience with an open copy of the book, pointing out the artwork especially.

Many persons got a second turn as it was a surprisingly minuscule audience for an early look at the second book in Bent's Reggae Pickney series. The first is Shaggy Parrot and the Reggae Band and, in The Reggae Band Rescues Mama Edda Leatherback, Shaggy again has a prominent deejay role on the CD. Cindy Breakspeare has the role of the turtle, Mama Edda.

The listening approach worked well enough - although it would have definitely been better with a larger audience - because the CD is excellent. The songs in the book are done on reggae rhythms and, in musical style, tell the bulk of the tale. Also, the artwork is of extremely high quality, both in terms of the actual drawings and the quality of the print.

To top it off, Bent's gentle engagement of especially the children, where she stooped to get to their level physically, worked well.

Plot

The Reggae Band Rescues Mama Edda Leatherback is set in St Elizabeth, where Shaggy and his band are performing at Calabash Bay, St Elizabeth, and the crew has to come to the rescue of Mama Edda as she heads to Parrottee Bay, also in St Elizabeth, to lay her eggs. Mama Edda swallows a plastic bag, mistaking it for a jellyfish, and there is high drama as many animals get involved in the rescue effort.

Bent pointed out that the leatherback turtle can grow up to nine feet long and over 2,000 pounds in weight, laying its eggs in up to 12 nests.

The listening was followed by a recycling demonstration, where children were asked to identify if items of garbage were metal, paper, plastic or paper and, therefore, which recycling receptacle it should go in.

Bent encouraged all to start conversations at the community level about recycling. "Just talk about it. Let's start a national awareness of recycling," she said.

The third book in the Reggae Pickney series comes out in the spring of 2012 and Bent is intent on making inroads into the US market. She said the books have got into 90 stores in the US and she is now looking to spread into Atlanta. To push the product, Bent will be spending an extended period in Washington, USA.