People loved it, and they loved her but it didn’t last. Fitzgerald was homeless for awhile after her mother died. She had a hard time getting hired, too, but she persevered until Chick Webb, a Harlem bandleader, finally saw her talent.
And that talent? You can still listen to it today.
It’s difficult to decide what to love best about “Ella Fitzgerald.”
The first thing your child will see, obviously, is the book. It’s small enough that it won’t scare anyone off, but big enough to give a kid a comprehensive biography. Olliver hits the highlights of Fitzgerald’s life and Courgeon nicely mixes colorful artwork with authentic photographs.
The other half of this book is hidden inside its front cover: a CD of its words read by John Chancer with music by Fitzgerald wrapped around the narrative. You get the book and 13 songs, which allows your child to follow along with the story and listen to blues, scat and bebop.
(“Ella Fitzgerald” by Stéphane Olliver, illustrated by Rémi Courgeon, translated by Penelope Stanley-Baker, narrated by John Chancer, c.2016, Moonlight Publishing. $22.99/$30.99 Canada, 28 pages, 1 CD.)
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