Make a Pretty Sound

Starred review from October 1, 2024

K-Gr 3-"You sing a song, and I'll sing a song, and we'll sing a song together." This lively picture book introduces young readers to the life and work of Ella Jenkins. Rhythmic text carries the hint of the music that influenced Jenkins when she was young and that she created for children throughout her career. Digitally rendered illustrations in bold colors capture the scene as Jenkins listens to Cab Calloway in a Chicago club or dances to the beat of Armando Peraza's drums in San Francisco. Other pages show her involvement in picket lines, sit-ins, and a performance at a rally with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. protesting unfair housing. But the majority of her life story focuses on her incredible gift for sharing music with children and encouraging them to "make a happy sound." End papers incorporate a time line of her life with the image of a record album with songs based on key events. There are also several pages of additional information about Jenkins's career and a selected bibliography. VERDICT A wonderful addition to library collections or for use in music classrooms to introduce this early childhood icon.-Suzanne Costner

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2024
Ella Jenkins opened up the field of children's music and inspired generations. "Ella is a South Side girl, / a Bronzeville bird, / skipping in streets that / smell of sweets and black-eyed peas." Todd's gorgeous free verse bursts with internal rhymes and delightful assonance and consonance as she tells the story of Ella Jenkins (b. 1924). Growing up in Chicago, Ella hears Count Basie and Cab Calloway, whose call-and-response music Todd aptly compares to "the beating / of wings." As she matures, Ella hears rhythms in the sounds of protesters taking a stand against segregation; by contrast, while waiting to be seated in restaurants that don't allow Black people like her, she's surrounded by silence. She moves to San Francisco's Codornices Village, where white and Black families live side by side. There she teaches music to children by day and at night listens to "Congas pop! / Claves click! / Maracas shick-shick-shick!" When Ella later returns to Chicago, the Civil Rights Movement is in full swing, and she notices "a bolder sound." She makes call-and-response records, travels the world teaching and performing, and receives a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; through it all, she's motivated by her belief that music can help listeners feel seen and understood. Davis' energetic art explodes with stars, word bubbles, musical notes, and bold colors--a perfect complement to Todd's lyrical language. A hypnotic, dynamic biography of a woman who's always understood music's power to celebrate identity and spread joy. (author's note, timeline, further information about Ella Jenkins, selected bibliography)(Picture-book biography. 7-10)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2024
Grades K-3 In this poetic exploration of the social and musical influences that Ella Jenkins absorbed and shared over a long career singing to young audiences, Todd takes readers from her early jump-rope rhymes and childhood games on Chicago's South Side, where she also heard the sounds of world music, to her melting-pot California community's mambo and merengue. Returning to Chicago as a civil rights marcher, Jenkins went on to conduct concerts large and small in her distinctive participatory call-and-response style around the world and to record more than 60 albums of children's music. Davis captures the high-stepping energy of it all in vibrant views of crowded city streets, exuberant performers and musicians, young children enthusiastically joining in, and, in the midst of it all, a whistling "Bronzeville bird," who is still singing when, hair gone gray in the closing gatefolds, she welcomes a multiracial rush of children with her arms full of found and homemade instruments. A time line and a fulsome author's note add further biographical detail and historical context to this loving tribute.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from November 11, 2024
Todd and Davis’s melodic paean to performer Ella Jenkins (b. 1924) follows a figure who “wants/ to make/ a pretty sound.” Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, musically inclined Jenkins cuts her teeth on jump-rope rhymes, vinyl records, and “dazzling Bronzeville music halls.” Jenkins matures to “the rhythm of picket lines/ under picket signs,” protesting establishments refusing Black people service before moving to Los Angeles, where former wartime workers nurture their families “black and white—side by side.” There, teacher Jenkins learns the conga drum and passes her knowledge (“songs the children know,/ songs she makes up on the spot/... Songs about growing up in Bronzeville”) to her students. Soon, she carries her music back home and marches for equality, then spends her days teaching children and embarking on a recording career. Onomatopoeia and crisp alliteration lend flair to lively text, while energetic digital illustrations play with warm, saturated color blocks and negative space in this work about a figure who taught children, “You sing a song,/ and I’ll sing a song,/ and we’ll sing a song together.” Back matter includes an author’s note. Ages 5–8.

January 1, 2025
Ella Jenkins (1924-2024) longed to make music from the time she was a little girl growing up in the segregated Bronzeville community of Chicago. "Ella is a South Side girl, a Bronzeville bird, skipping in streets that smell of sweets and black-eyed peas." In this engaging picture-book biography, Todd writes lyrically about the girl who would become a celebrated musician and release more than sixty albums for children. Ella was surrounded by music and rhythm throughout her childhood, whether it was the choirs she heard at local churches, "recess rhymes," or her uncle Flood's "silver slip" (harmonica). She was also introduced to world music through record stores and saw artists such as Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong perform. After high school, she moved to San Francisco, where she lived in an integrated community for the first time and was exposed to new forms of music. She went to college, became a teacher, and learned to play the conga drums. Upon returning to Chicago, she participated in civil rights protests and continued to teach before becoming a full-time musician. Davis's digital illustrations, with lots of rich, saturated colors, are detailed and energetic. Double-page spreads on black backgrounds with pops of yellow musical notes and stylized stars showcase musicians and dancers, capturing the excitement and joy of live performances. Gatefolds at the back of the book contain an author's note and additional information about Jenkins. Front and back endpapers feature a timeline of her life. A selected bibliography is appended. Marva Anne Hinton

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2025
Ella Jenkins (1924-2024) longed to make music from the time she was a little girl growing up in the segregated Bronzeville community of Chicago. "Ella is a South Side girl, a Bronzeville bird, skipping in streets that smell of sweets and black-eyed peas." In this engaging picture-book biography, Todd writes lyrically about the girl who would become a celebrated musician and release more than sixty albums for children. Ella was surrounded by music and rhythm throughout her childhood, whether it was the choirs she heard at local churches, "recess rhymes," or her uncle Flood's "silver slip" (harmonica). She was also introduced to world music through record stores and saw artists such as Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong perform. After high school, she moved to San Francisco, where she lived in an integrated community for the first time and was exposed to new forms of music. She went to college, became a teacher, and learned to play the conga drums. Upon returning to Chicago, she participated in civil rights protests and continued to teach before becoming a full-time musician. Davis's digital illustrations, with lots of rich, saturated colors, are detailed and energetic. Double-page spreads on black backgrounds with pops of yellow musical notes and stylized stars showcase musicians and dancers, capturing the excitement and joy of live performances. Gatefolds at the back of the book contain an author's note and additional information about Jenkins. Front and back endpapers feature a timeline of her life. A selected bibliography is appended.

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)