Soulful Struttin, written by Julia Pierre Hammond and illustrated by Ana Latese is about a young girl named Clara and her family who have weekend family traditions. Clara " always tries to avoid" one of those family traditions but her father creates a way to make it enjoyable. Clara slowly begins to warm up to the idea of cleaning and ultimately finds she enjoys it. The story initially grabbed my attention as I was able to connect and relate to the weekend tradition as my family did something similar and often played Gospel music while cleaning our home which I still do even today. The illustrations are beautifully drawn and pair well with the story. The whimsical and playful aspect of this book is great for young readers as well as teaching children to cherish the moments shared with family as well as celebrating their culture through music and food. Thank you NetGalley and FreeSpirit Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this heartening book.

A soulful and delightful book. The story and illustrations are fun and engaging and the extras at the end such as the playlist, gumbo recipe and more are such fun additions to engage the reader even more!

This was a heart warming story of a father and daughter bonding and finding the joy in chores through music. I shared this story in a story time I host and the kids loved it. Not only does this story introduce music and jazz, but it’s also a good interactive lesson on making every day tasks fun!

I’d recommend this book to fans of music, jazz, and New Orleans. The perfect bedtime story or group reading selection for classrooms.

This was a sweet illustrated book that is perfect for storytime either at home or at school. I'd definitely consider reading it to my first-graders. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review it.

This is so sweet and fun, I really enjoyed it! I love all things New Orleans so I especially loved the songs that were included. It could also be some good inspiration for parents to make chores fun

A pleasant and quick read, where a girl aghast at her father ends up doing just like him. For it's Sunday, and to kill the drudgery of cleaning the house, the man sings and dances and gives it the whole New Orleans jazz thang. But when our heroine is ordered to help out, too – whattaya know but she doesn't join in and do the same. The lesson is definitely on the overt side – that parents just love it when a kid starts cleaning the house for them. No, strike that, I mean the lesson is that music and dance and being silly without worry makes for a happier household, and bopping along makes you forget you're working hard. Yes, that's the lesson, and it's one many people might remember to pass on. This is a pretty decent way to do that. I do think you have to like the old N'Orleans playlist included to get everything from these pages, but we all have our favourites to clean to, so pretty much any parent should be able to adapt and adopt this, to their benefit.

Opening of a book has never been so relatable - Clara saying the thing she tries to avoid is cleaning. Same girl, same. This was so fun! I was smiling the whole time because Clara and her dad were having so much fun!! The writing style and illustrations pair so well together & I loved the addition of the music notes throughout the book in the background to add to the overall theme!

A cute and inspiring read about making the mundane parts of life (like cleaning the house!) fun and enjoyable. Soulful Struttin' carries a good message without coming off too preachy. It is a joy to read aloud with great rhythm in the text and bouncy word choices. The illustrations are full of movement and magic. Overall, the joy and teamwork of the family makes for a wonderful story that will inspire readers.

"Soulful struttin" is a great book. There is a father and daughter relationship and the most boring things on Sundays cleaning the house. The father is musical, dancing, full of imagination, and laughing. I like that the father is leading the teaching on housekeeping. I also tried the father's playlist on YouTube, and it was a wonderful time in my home. There is a recipe for gumbo.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ebook. All opinions in this review are my own.

This ebook was made available for me to read and review by Julia Pierre Hammond, Teacher Created Materials/Free Spirit Publishing, and NetGalley.

The illustrator of this picture ebook is Ana Latese. The illustrations were warm, inviting, and engaging. I loved the artistic styling of the characters. The effect of the styling invoked movement artfully.

This is a sweet and fun book. It's mostly about a father and daughter having fun during their weekly cleaning. The father injects music, dancing, imagination, laughter, and fun to the dreaded chores. This focused on completing chores as a family and with an upbeat attitude. I like that the father is leading the teaching on housekeeping. This includes age appropriate questions to engage young ones in the story and help with story comprehension. This also includes suggested similar activities that kids can do at their homes, a musical playlist, and a recipe for gumbo. This could easily function as a gateway to exploring cleaning focused kid appropriate activities. I'd say this is appropriate for toddler age through early readers.

Thank you to Julia Pierre Hammond, Teacher Created Materials/Free Spirit Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ebook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

This book was so cute. I loved how the dad made doing chores fun. It was easy it read and fast paced. It was also very funny. I loved how the lyrics were song I recognized easily. I really appreciated the playlist and recipe at the end. 5/5 would recommend.

Clara and her dad have their part of Sunday cleaning to do, but not without a little necessary groovin' along the way! ♫

This book was SUCH a fun read. The illustrations are adorable, and there are so many extras in the back pages (discussion questions, a gumbo recipe, dancing instructions, even a playlist for your own cleaning soundtrack!)

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Soulful Struttin' is a lovely story that captures the beauty that can be experienced in the small moments with our families. A great reminder that even in the mundane moments of chores and bathroom cleaning, we can make magical memories of togetherness, dancing and music. It's such a sweet story and reminded me to bring more soul and strut into moments with my students and my own kiddos. I also love bringing books with BIPOC characters into my classroom and home!

This was cute. Nothing to rant and rave about but did like the fact that the dad was the star of the cleaning versus the “traditional” mother being the cleaner.

I know that I’m not the only one who hates cleaning. This picture book takes cleaning to a whole new level! For many, including kids, cleaning regularly seems like drudgery (and it is!) but this children’s book puts a new spin on it by showing kids and adults how it can actually be a lot of fun.

Written by Julia Pierre Hammond and illustrated by Ana Latese, this book is pure inspiration. It shows how a little girl’s father actually turns the boring work of housecleaning into fun and games. At first, little Clara doesn’t want to clean the house, but her father sings and dances to rhythm and blues, bringing joy to a mundane activity.

Besides just the text, Pierre Hammond included several different pages, including: A Note from the Author, Thinking and Talking About Clara’s Story, Dad’s Rhythm and Blues Cleanup Mix, Second Line Parade, and a recipe for Grandma Sentelia’s Gumbo.

This book is perfect not just for teachers but for all parents in our unyielding quest to educate our children. One of my favorite parts about this book (besides the gumbo recipe!) is the Cleanup Mix where Pierre Hammond actually includes a lineup of songs that youngsters can listen to while they clean up.

I absolutely love this book and wish that I had it around when my son was younger. Latese did a fantastic job illustrating this book, and I love how she utilized musical notes throughout the book. I hope to see this picture book made available to parents everywhere!

I received an ARC of “Soulful Struttin’” by Julia Pierre Hammond from NetGalley, Teacher Created Materials, and Free Spirit Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Julia Pierre Hammond’s Soulful Struttin' is a joyful and empowering celebration of self-expression and individuality. Through its lively narrative and vibrant illustrations, the book offers a compelling message about the importance of confidence and embracing one’s true self.

This was a cute and beautifully written story with a new Orleans flair. The storyline about cleaning with family is adorable.

This story is an absolute delight and bound to bring joy to kids. The playful language, bouncy rhyme scheme, and repeating words will encourage children to read this book again and again with confidence. I adore that the main characters are a father and daughter, tackling a relatable activity for all families—chores! It’s a heartwarming, fun read that captures the essence of family life and makes every chore feel like an adventure.

I am going to have this line stuck in my head all day, but I absolutely love it, so it’s totally okay! There’s something irresistibly catchy about “my toes start tappin’, my knees start knockin’, my shoulders start swayin’” that makes it so memorable. Thank you NetGalley for this early review.

This book was illustrated beautifully. Every page had such significant detail. This book was very well written. Growing up there weren’t a lot of books with characters who looked like me. This book gave me that sense of feeling like a kid again and just enjoying the story from beginning to end. The detail in describing the beat and music made it easy to sway and move along with the characters. I’m completely blown away by this book. Easiest 5 ⭐️ rating.

So glad I found this cute read, never would I have thought I’d enjoy a story about cleaning as much as I did!

Could definitely see it as a book kids would instantly get drawn to with it’s vivid illustrations and enjoy reading, but also something parents would like since it introduces cleaning/choirs as something that could be turned into a fun time instead of a negative experience.

Love how it ties into a family dinner at the end, but it does make me crave for some gumbo now! Good thing a recipe was including at the end, which was a nice touch, including the discussion and questions portion at the end that parents or teachers may use to make kids think critically.

Thank you to Julia Pierre Hammond Free Spirit publishing and Netgalley for the ARC!