I Had a Favorite Dress

Distraught when her favorite dress, always worn on her favorite day (Tuesday) becomes too small to wear, the young heroine of this charming picture-book turns to her mother, and "Snip, Snip, Sew, Sew... New shirt, Hello!" This new garment soon becomes the young girl's favorite piece of clothing, always worn on her (new) favorite day, Wednesday. As time goes on, the erstwhile dress becomes smaller and smaller, transformed into a tank top, a skirt, a scarf, and a hair-bow. When even this is destroyed, a final use is made of the remnants of the beloved garment, enabling the girl to hold on to her memories...

I'm grateful to my friend Gundula for reviewing this sweet book, as I had initially passed it by, thinking it to be a fairly standard show more 'dressing up' story. There's nothing wrong with dressing-up stories, of course, when done right - children learn through imitation, after all, and many young people experiment by dressing up in their parents' clothing, or by wearing costumes of various kinds - but I somehow wasn't attracted to it. I'm glad that I read a review putting me right, however, as I Had a Favorite Dress turned out to be a charming tale of a girl and her mother, and their creative use of sewing to repurpose a beloved article of clothing, rather than just throwing it away. I appreciated both the frugality and artistry involved in the process being depicted in the story, and thought the accompanying artwork, done in watercolor, graphite, colored pencil, needle and thread, and digital collage, perfectly captured the sense of fun throughout. I also appreciated the fact that mother and daughter are African-American, but that this is not commented upon at all in text or artwork, as I think we need more lighthearted books featuring diverse characters. Recommended to anyone looking for fun and creative mother-daughter tales, or stories incorporating sewing-craft and clothing issues. show less

Lovely both inside and out. A young girl's favorite dress changes with the seasons and her own growing self to become a shirt, a tank, a skirt, a scarf and more. Boni Ashburn's story has a wonderful vibrancy to it, with the repeated refrain of "Snip, snip, sew, sew, new [insert clothing item here] hello!". I also loved the final outcome of the dress, which is sweet and simple. Julia Denos' illustrations are gorgeous and the coloring is divine. I wish I could live in this picture book. And I wish I could sew like the girl's mother!

The narrator, with brown skin and dark hair, has a "favoritest dress ever" that she wears on her favorite day of the week (Tuesday)...but one day, it's too small! She asks her mama to make something out of it, and voila...it becomes a ruffly shirt. The pattern continues, with the original dress being remade into a shirt, skirt, scarf, socks, hair bow, and finally a piece of art.

A sweet story that will resonate with anyone who's ever grown out of a favorite item of clothing. Julia Denos' artwork makes the story sing, with plenty of sewist touches - even some of the text looks stitched.

See also: Joseph Had A Little Overcoat by Simms Taback

I actually thought this was a very nice book. I can easily remember myself altering my own favorite pieces in order to just keep using them: such as my hot pink ankle socks with a white skull wearing a bow on them. I cut them and made them into gloves since a few holes opened around my toes.

This story is excellent for creative young girls who are fond of fashion. =)

The main character of this story has one dress that she loves more than any of her other clothes. As she grows older she alters the dress to fit her, it first turn into a shirt and ends with being a material used on a picture of herself. This book encourages creativity and encourages kids to recycle.

I can relate to this book because I have a dress that I love and I don't want to throw it out even thought I don't fit it anymore. The illustrator did a really good job with the illustration. Feels like the picture is in 3-D. I love how she loves her dress so much that she couldn't get rid of it so she made it into different piece of clothing she could.

A young girl's mother reinvents her daughter's favorite dress into smaller pieces of clothing as she grows. From a new shirt to a tank top to a skirt to a scarf, to new socks and a hair bow, this young girl realizes that nothing lasts forever, but memories.