Ella Fitzgerald's early struggles, triumph

August 28, 2010|By Mary Harris Russell, Special to Tribune Newspapers

'Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald'

By Roxanne Orgill, illustrated by Sean Qualls

Candlewick, $17.99, ages 8-11

Young lovers of music will find these illustrated pages appealing. Sean Qualls' pictures of Ella Fitzgerald give her such expressive eyes and mouth, whether closed in sadness or open in the joy of singing. It takes, however, the dense detail of Roxanne Orgill's words to get the feel for just how strong this woman had to be to reach the recognition her talent deserved. Orgill is very explicit about how "raggedy" the teenage Ella was. "Ella was a mess. Somebody give that girl a bar of soap! A comb, a dress! But who? Ella had no home." There was no zippy reality show-style makeover. The book ends when Fitzgerald is 21 and "A Tisket, a Tasket" has become a "number-one hit song on the radio." She toughed her way out, and the toughness and the "raggedy" come through strongly.

'Rescue Bunnies'

By Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Scott Menchin

Balzer & Bray, $16.99, ages 4-8

"Newbie is a Rescue Bunny trainee." Think EMT, at a bunny firehouse. Her differently colored hard hat singles her out as "the kid," even though the toughest older bunnies are still, well, bunnies. Though she's passed all her tests (including a "Blind Taste Test" with carrots), she hasn't yet passed a dreaded field exam. "Until then her job is to alphabetize the spice rack." The call comes: A giraffe is stuck in a mud hole. "Code Red" might be invoked if the lurking hyenas appear. As in Hollywood movies where a newbie with "a lot of heart" (and good lines) wins, so does this trainee.

'Life-Size Aquarium'

By Teruyuki Komiya, photographs by Toshimitsu Matsuhashi

Seven Footer Kids, $17.95, ages 6-10

This book won't fit on your shelf. But find a place for it, spread it out and let children and adults enjoy it. The basic premise: life-size pictures of aquatic animals. Sometimes the choice is made to show part of the animal, life-size, sometimes in a double fold-out page. Along one side of each picture, there is a collection of small sidebars adding details. The animals shown are a broader assortment than the usual suspects, including some less familiar, like the dugong or humphead wrasse. Get past thinking this book is just a big novelty item. It attracts, initially, by its size, but it will call you back again and again.