Make a Pretty Sound: A Story of Ella Jenkins—The First Lady of Children’s Music

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 the Bay Area, 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. (Jan.)

Correction: The text of this review has been updated for accuracy.