A Singer, a Drummer, a Painter, an Animator

Last month I wrote about nonfiction books on Pearl Harbor that were written for children but great for adults as well. This month, I have even more children’s nonfiction recommendations for all ages. These four books are biographies of fascinating and important artists who have made a great impact in their field. All titles are available at the Fergus Falls Public Library. 

Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa by Andrea David Pinkney and Brian Pinkney

Ella Fitzgerald has been one of my favorite singers since high school. I love her improvised scatting on “Mack the Knife” from her 1960 “Ella in Berlin” live album and her double album “Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book” from 1956. This colorful biography is divided into four “tracks” and narrated by a fictitious feline called Scat Cat Monroe. Scat tells us about Ella’s childhood in New York and the night she was discovered at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem at age 17. The book covers her influential singing career and the impact she had on jazz music. All of the art was created in scratchboard, a white board that’s covered in blank ink and then scratched away to show the color underneath. The vivid artwork is the perfect complement to Ella’s brilliant career. 

Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion by Shannon Stocker and Devon Holzwarth

This story is absolutely inspiring and captivating. Evelyn Glennie was born in Scotland in 1965 into a musical family. She learned how to play piano by ear as a young child and played the clarinet as well. However, later in childhood, she began to lose her hearing. Determined to still play music, Evelyn taught herself how to play percussion by feeling vibrations. She has gone on to become a world-renowned percussionist and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007. For further info on Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, check out her TED Talk, podcast, or videos on YouTube. “Listen” was one of the winners of the 2023 Schneider Family Book Award, which “honors an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.”

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet

Horace Pippin was born in Pennsylvania in 1888 and grew up in New York. He discovered, at any early age, that he loved to draw. He started out using charcoal and paper scraps and would sit by the fire and draw what he had seen that day. When he was 10 years old, he won an art contest in a magazine. The prize was new art supplies. That was when Horace started painting. He had to drop out of school in eighth grade to help support his family and had less time to make art. He joined the army and enlisted in the 15th regiment of the New York National Guard, an all-black unit that fought in France during WWI. He discovered that his fellow soldiers loved seeing his drawings and they began to beg him to create more and more. Horace sustained a war injury when a bullet hit him in his right arm. After the war, he had a hard time finding work because of his arm. He eventually tried making art again but it was difficult. He had to lift his right arm with left and take things very slowly. With time, dedication, and patience, he began to create piece after piece, both paintings and wood-burned panels. Today, Horace Pippin is known as a great American folk artist. One of his works, “John Brown Reading His Bible” (1942), is on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. 

Pocket Full of Colors: The Magical World of Mary Blair, Disney Artist Extraordinaire by Amy Guglielmo, Jacqueline Tourville, and Brigette Barrager

Mary Blair was one of the first women to be hired at Walt Disney Studios. The year was 1940 and her job was to create sketches that would later become animated films. However, Mary felt the workplace was a boys’ club and her artistic ideas were constantly being rejected by the “Nine Old Men” (a nickname for the core group of Disney animators). She quit after one year. She had worked there long enough for Walt Disney himself to see her talent. She came back to work in a different position and ended up working on classics like “Cinderella,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Peter Pan.” She left Disney again in 1953 to be a commercial artist and Broadway set designer. Walt Disney needed her for one more project though. He called her himself and asked her to be the lead on creating the imagery and styling for a magical ride that would showcase people’s cultures from around the world. Small World debuted at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and eventually found its home at Disneyland in 1966. It remains one of the most popular attractions at the park.

Arielle McCune is the Youth Services Librarian at the Fergus Falls Public Library