Children's Book Review: I Had a Favorite Dress

I Had a Favorite Dress
Written by: Boni Ashburn
Illustrated by: Julia Denos
Published by: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2011
32 pages

from goodreads.com:
Open up a fresh and stylish story about growing up and keeping hold of your favorite memories. As the year passes, the narrator’s favorite dress goes through a series of creative changes, from dress to shirt to tank top to scarf and so on, until all that’s left of it is a good memory. Assisted by her patient and crafty mama, the narrator finds that when disaster strikes her favorite things, she doesn’t need to make mountains out of molehills—she “makes molehills out of mountains” instead! Structured around the days of the week, the story is also illustrated to show the passing of the seasons, a perfect complement to the themes of growing older and keeping hold (and letting go) of special mementos.

* What happens when a child outgrows a favorite outfit? (If it's my child, we do seasonal fashion shows where they try on their clothes and if something doesn't fit, it's put in the bag to donate to Goodwill)  This book tells the story of the transformation of a young girl's favorite dress into a shirt, then a tank top, and several other surprises.  (She's lucky to have a mother who is so crafty and skilled with the sewing machine.....definitely not me!) The illustrations depict the changing of seasons as the girl's favorite day of the week changes with each outfit transformation.  Overall it was an okay story that my kids seemed to enjoy....just hope it doesn't give my daughter any ideas!

Family Rating:  1 thumb up.