“Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa” by Andrea Davis Pinkney
This book tells how legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald became famous. It is something of a rags-to-riches story, since her family did not grow up rich. It explains how other musicians worked with her, how she learned to hone her singing abilities, and how much everyone around her loved her music. There are a lot of music related onomatopoeia (like “skippity hop doo dee bop”) and more difficult music related vocabulary (like “syncopation”) which make this quite an engaging reading experience.
I personally adore Ella Fitzgerald, so I would love to do a lesson that involves her. Introducing genres of music that students might be unfamiliar with would be a great lead-in to a lesson about America’s history in the jazz age, or for Black History Month, or just a lesson on diversity in general. This will, of course, include listening to some of her music as a class.
Author’s Website: Author | Andrea Davis Pinkney
Read Aloud: https://youtu.be/FHf2I_aST0E?si=l371tPSgXc3AFxAn
