Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa

Genre: Biography
Critique: This is a good example of a biography because it is about one of the most remembered singers of all time. Ella Fitzgerald gave a name to scat music and brought a new life to the music industry in general. This book talks about the real events that took place in her life

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and is accurate about what happened.

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Filled with historical facts, very interesting information

This semi-autobiographical children's picture book of Ella Fitzgerald is one of my favorite finds from the new Recycled Reads bookstore here in Austin. Written and illustrated by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney, this intensely colorful, moving, and musical book is a joy to read. Using

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vibrant colors with a scratchboard technique, the Pinkney's tell the story of Fitzgerald through the eyes of a cat called Scat Cat Monroe, so named because of Ella's indelible prescence in scat music. Musical terms, lyrics, and sounds are used throughout, and give the book an air of literal musicality instead of just paper and words. I enjoyed learning about a person I had heard of but knew little about, and can't imagine a better book to introduce kids to the wonder and fun of jazz and scat music.

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"Scat Cat" narrates Ella Fitzgerald's rise to stardom. The device of a narrator cat is somewhat silly and unnecessary, but the book overall succeeds due to the lovely illustrations and admiring treatment of the subject matter.

The lush illustrations of this book and the slightly jazzy rythm of the

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narration make the reader almost hear the sounds of Fitzgerald singing. Young readers should be advised to check out a recording of Fitzgerald along with this picture book.

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this books is about Ella Fitzgerald's career. It starts out with her as a street performer and moves until she has become a success and named the queen of scat. At the very end of the book is a note from the author giving more insight to Ella's life.

“The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa” shows Ella Fitzgerald to children as this internationally known African American scat and rich singer. But before she became this famous woman today, the author shows that Ella the singer, did not always wanted to become a singer. As a young girl she dreamed of

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becoming a dancer, in which she taught herself day in and day out how to dance, specifically tap dance. But fate had other plans. Performing at the famous Apollo Theatre, her plan was to dance, but her moves failed her; instead she captured the audience with her voice and the rest became history. She went on to sing all across the US and became a renowned jazz singer. This is a great example of an African American biography because it shows through great illustration and descriptions of Ella’s obstacles before becoming the woman people know her as today.

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This book is based on the life of Ella Fitzgerald a scat singer. She is the person who made scat popular with this new kind of jazz.
This book is a great lesson of someone in history and music, it has many oxymoron's and beautiful illustrations. It is extremely creative and eye catching.
This book

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would be appropriate for Pre - K to 3rd graders.

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SUMMARY
This book chronicles the life of Ella Fitzgerald, the famous jazz singer. It begins with her time as a child, aspiring to be a dancer. It shares how she became famous as a singer and how her fame grew with the Chick Webb Orchestra. It even shares of her success during the bebop

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period.

REVIEW
I loved the tone that the narrator has in this book. It really places you in the time period of Ella. I felt like I was following her on her journey. What really stood out to me in this story were the stunning illustrations. When I finished reading, I decided to read the note from the illustrator. He drew the illustrations in order to mimic the works of the Harlem Renaissance and add visual authenticity. I definitely appreciated that he took the time to do this because it really enhanced the story as a whole.

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Great history lesson on Ella Fitzgerald. Easy to read for children who are wanting to know who Ella is. Would also be a great text to read in a classroom during a biography lesson. Great illustration work done by Brian Pinkney.

As lover of jazz music, I believe this is a beautiful story about Ella Fitzgerald, the classic starter of jazz music. It is a story of her trials and accomplishments. It will serve well as an encourager to all children to follow their dreams.

This book would be good to use when talking about voice in writing; it would also be good to use when talking about African American influence in music.