I had the pleasure of starting a dive into the life and legacy of Ella Jenkins when I took a class on Material Culture of Childhood last Fall. I knew I wanted to write my final paper on Black women, care, and material objects for children. Around that time I’d just ordered one of Ella Jenkins’ red kazoos from her merch site, and so it felt right to spend more time with her story. My paper ended up being a reflection on Black women, quilts, Mississippi, music, Ella Jenkins, shoebox lunches, and my Aunt Carole’s memories. One of the many things that came out of that work was a blossoming affection for Ella Jenkins and deep appreciation for the impact she left on the world of storytelling and music.

I was delighted to discover the picture book Make a Pretty Sound: A story of Ella Jenkins – The First Lady of Children’s Music by Traci N. Todd and Eleanor Davis. 2025 seems to be a year of honoring her legacy in print; another book (for adults) was also published, titled This is Rhythm: Ella Jenkins, Children’s Music, and the long Civil Rights Movement by Gayle F. Wald.

Make a Pretty Sound takes its time setting up how Ella came to be a storyteller and musician. The story is centered in a vibrant exploration of her Bronzeville neighborhood in Chicago and in showing and telling the reader how Blackness, sound, and curiosity were constant parts of her upbringing that shaped her into the woman she’d became.

Todd’s writing is lyrical and illuminative, reflecting the rhythm and vibrance of Jenkins’ life. She plays with the concepts of “White” and “Black” and “Bronze” to describe skin color, experience, race, and divide to help a young reader clearly understand that Ella Jenkin’s life was affected by race, racism, and segregation. But by grounding the story in a place of Blackness, readers understand that there is no lack of pride and love in her upbringing, despite white Chicago’s attempts to snuff the joy out.

Ella is a South Side girl,

a Bronzeville bird,

skipping in streets that

smell of sweets and

black-eyed peas.

Everywhere she looks

there are

brown-skinned people,

bronze-skinned people

just like her.

There is a quiet intimacy in how Todd and Davis portray Jenkins’ family life and how her extended family influence her growth, development, and dreaming. Davis’ digital illustrations are warm and give the reader lots of detail into what Black Chicago life on the Southside was like. It’s clear that she did a lot of research to capture the mood, fashion, and energy of Chicago in the 20s-40s. I noticed little details like a young Black man carrying a copy of prominent Black newspaper The Chicago Defender under his arm and a child leaning out an apartment window reading a copy of Harlem Renaissance writers Bontemps & Hughes’ Popo & Fifina.

This is a picture book where the illustrator and writer understand each other; the text plays with the illustration and vice versa. Todd and Davis weave words and illustration to take us through the many phases of Ella Jenkins’ life; we watch her change, stay the same, and keep children at the heart of her purpose. As to be expected, a book about a musician and storyteller is full of lots of pretty sounds for children to repeat, imitate, and have fun with in a boisterous read-aloud.

Make a Pretty Sound is a beautifully fitting tribute to one of our most beloved musicians and storytellers and is, in my opinion, one of the strongest picture books of 2025.

Ella Jenkins dedicated her life to caring for children through music. Perhaps you hadn’t heard of her until now or maybe you will look up some of her music and suddenly remember one of her songs from your childhood. I encourage you to read this picture book then explore her work; she has many, many records and made several appearances on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood with her friend Fred Rogers. I encourage you to take some time with her music and enjoy.

Recommended for: All ages
Great for: Music, Black Women, Biography, Culture, Non-fiction, Care, Historical Figures, Music Education
Book Info: Make a Pretty Sound: A Story of Ella Jenkins – The First Lady of Children’s Music by Traci N. Todd/Illustrated by Eleanor Davis, 2025 Chronicle Books