A Tisket, A Tasket

by Ella Fitzgerald, Ora Eitan (Illustrator)

Spirited illustrations bring to life Ella Fitzgerald's adaptation of the classic nursery rhyme about a young girl in search of the perfect springtime basket.

Genres: Picture Books, Music, Childrens, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 27, 2003

About the author

Ella Jane Fitzgerald, also known as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella", was an American jazz and song vocalist. With a vocal range spanning three octaves (D♭3 to D♭6), she was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing and intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.

Fitzgerald was a notable interpreter of the Great American Songbook. Over the course of her 59-year recording career, she was the winner of 13 Grammy Awards and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Ronald Reagan and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to read while listening to the song!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the illustrations for the amazing song by Ella Fitzgerald.

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I don’t find my lesson basket, I think that I will die? I know that’s the original lyric, but it sticks out like a sore thumb or an open wound in this simple picture book. It is just the song; nothing in here biographical about Ella.

[Sara Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a couple of places where it's hard to keep the rhythm, but I really like this for baby storytime.

[Laurel Blakeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is from the list on Coloring Colorado. Colorín Colorado is the premier national website serving educators and families of English language learners (ELLs) in Grades PreK-12. This book is sung by Ella Fitzgerald. One benefit of this book for ELL's is that they can listen to the song while following along with the book to hear and see the words. This book would be beneficial in the classroom with ELL's because the teacher could play the song while students follow along with the story.

[Angie Munoz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Young children will thoroughly enjoy this book. Makes the reader want to sing along. Very fun book!

[Trey Veazey · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a fan of Fitzgerald & the song, it pains me to dislike this book so much.

[Darlena Glenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't captivate me in a way that I would want to share this with learners.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book because I love Ella Fitzgerald, but I was disappointed. It seems to show a white girl losing her basket, a black girl finding the basket, and the white girl saying that the black girl took her basket. The black girl is depicted in a more urban environment than the white girl. At the end is a spread with both girls and two baskets, one for each, but it struck me as a missed opportunity to break away from stereotypes and an "us vs. them" mindset. The illustrations are beautiful, and I can imagine kids really enjoying looking at this book while listening to a recording of the song. I am deliberately trying to build a collection of children's books that reflects the diversity of our world, and this just isn't one that I want my kids to internalize.

[Paris · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would not recommend this book. This book was about a girl who lost her basket which was later returned. Although the words could be easily read, I thought the language was inappropriate for small children. Nevertheless, the illustrations were very creative. However, the plot and the way the characters are potrayed seemed to be sterotypical.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read at Baby/Toddler Story Time on 4/19/11: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at Jazz Appreciation Story Time on 4/11/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a jazz redo of the classing children's rhyme. The illustrations are eye-catching and bold, and I took the extra step to buy the Ella Fitzgerald version of the song on iTunes to play to my students after reading it.

Another book enhanced by audio!

[Kristie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Point out the words as you sing this familiar song with the kiddos.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids want to read/sing this book every day.

[Prplpckl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite. My rhythm never seems correct when I read this story.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool pics - doesn't really work as an illustrated story for kids, but I still kinda liked it. Particularly on the back of my son's love for Ella Fitzgerald's version of "Old McDonald"