African American Literature- ELLA FITZGERALD: THE TALE OF A VOCAL VIRTUOSA

Bibliographic Data

Pinkney, Andrea Davis, and J. Brian Pinkney. 2002. Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa. New York: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN: 9780786805686

Brief Plot Summary

The narrator Scat Cat Monroe sings the story of the famous jazz singer, Ella Fitzgerald’s career in the style of scat.

Critical Analysis

Harlem Renaissance visual arts portray the history and culture of African Americans. It is intended to be uplifting through African American literature, art, and music bringing pride.

(Notice the scratches in this type of art)

Utilizing the scratchboard technique the illustrations in this book portray the jazz scene and career of Ella Fitzgerald. Readers will find many cultural markers within the pages. The art depicts Ella’s skin tone and her hair.

(Ella’s signature eyes. We also see her deep skin tone and hair)

Scat singing is a skillful type of singing in which the singer improvises using her voice as an instrument. Ella Fitzgerald is known as one of the best scat singers in history. The text is supposed to be lyrics to an album sung in a scat rhythm.

(Even the sections of the book are listed as tracks)

An element that occasionally comes up in African American literature is imagination and fantastical events. Though this story is based on a true celebrity we see depictions of fantastic events, specifically flying.

(Ella and Dizzy flying on a trumpet)

Awards & Best Books

Society of School Librarians International Book Awards, 2002 Honor Book Social Studies-Grades K-6 United States

Storytelling World Resource Award, 2004 Honor Book Stories for Young Listeners United States

Best Children's Books of the Year, 2003 Bank Street College of Education

Booklist Book Review Stars, Apr. 1, 2002 American Library Association

Capitol Choices, 2002 The Capitol Choices Committee

Children's Catalog, Eighteenth Edition, Supplement, 2003 H.W. Wilson

Children's Catalog, Nineteenth Edition, 2006 H.W. Wilson

Choices, 2003 Cooperative Children's Book Center

Core Collection: Artists in Picture Book Biographies, 2006 American Library Association

Core Collections: Artists in Picture Book Biographies, 2006 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review Stars, April 1, 2002

Notable Children's Books, 2003 ALSC American Library Association

Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2003 National Council for the Social Studies NCSS

Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars, March 11, 2002 Cahners

Review Excerpt(s) 

“The Pinkneys have once again created a great picturebook biography about an outstanding African-American figure.” - Jeanenne (BookHive (www.bookhive.org))

“Younger children won't understand the sense in many of the phrases, but heard aloud, the rhythm in the words will give them a feel for the music; older readers will enjoy both the similarities to rap and spoken-word poetry.” - Gillian Engberg (Booklist, Apr. 1, 2002 (Vol. 98, No. 15))

“The design of this effort is quite remarkable; from time to time, words splash across the pages, and change in font and size, effectively mirroring rhythms and meanings.” - Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2002 (Vol. 70, No. 7))

Connections

After reading this title have students the scratchboard art in the book. Child-freidnly scratchboards are available from a variety of vendor such as Dick Blick http://www.dickblick.com/products/scratch-art-scratch-lite-stained-glass-sheets/

Conduct a whole unit on Jazz for children featuring videos, music, and other books from the children’s jazz booklist on http://delightfulchildrensbooks.com/2011/01/16/jazz-music/