Marianna May and Nursey

I remember reading and enjoying this book as a kid and sympathizing with the MC who just wants to play and be a normal kid, but to her caretaker, keeping her white dresses prim and clean is more important than letting her be herself. It's nice that an solution was eventually devised for this, but I doubt that most parents would have ever contemplated this for their daughters through time immemorial (maintaining and enforcing that girls needed to be pretty and prim) having clothing specifically to play in and get dirty is a relatively new idea.

Marianna May and Nursey by Tomie Depaola is a wonderfully written and illustrated book. The story is about Marianna May; a rich girl whose parents were always busy so Marianna May had a lady who took care of her. The lady’s name was Nursey. Both Nursey and Marianna always wore white. Marianna hated it because she couldn’t do the things she loved, like make mud pies, eat orange ice, strawberry ice cream, or even paint pictures. Things began to change when Mr. Talbot, the iceman came to deliver ice and noticed that Marianna is always sitting. Her crew all began to find ways to let her play without dirtying her white dress. Mr. Talbot came up with a great idea, to dye Marianna May’s clothes in order to suit her. The worked perfectly show more and Marianna May was able to enjoy the rest of her summer. Tomie Depaola is just as good at illustration as he is at writing. His colorful plain pages have the ability to captivate anyone’s attention! show less

Marianna May was never allowed to be a child. Every day she was only allowed to sit on the front porch swing. But, all she wanted to do was play and get dirty. One day, the cooks and the ice cream man saw that Marianna May was not having any fun, they saw too it that all of Marianna May white dresses be dyed different colors. Now may would never stain anything!

I like the way the illustrator, uses color to make the book go along. In the start, everything is white, then as we go along, more color starts to pop up. Its fun to watch.

Marianna May just wants to play, but Nursey, the lady who takes care of her will not let her do anything but sit on the front porch swing. Marianna May wears white dresses everyday. When she rolls in the grass, makes mud pies, paints pictures, eats orange ice or eats strawberry ice cream she stains her white dresses. Mr. Talbot, the ice man, noticed that Marianna was not having any fun. He told the maids, cooks, and Nursey, and they all decided to dye her white dresses various colors. No when Marianna May goes to play, she doe snot have to worry about staining her dresses.

The author, dePaola, uses the color white prominently throughout the first half of the book. The house, clothing, and different items around Marianna May are white. As show more the book gets towards the end, bright colors that are the same colors as Marianna's died dresses show up throughout the pages. show less

Marianna May was never allowed to roll in the grass, make mud pies, paint pictures, eat orange ice, or strawberry ice cream because her white dresses would always get messy. But then her helpers had an idea and they all dyed every one of her dresses the color of each of her favorite things. And the only time she wore white was during winter.

Great book about a child who wants to play and get dirty, but here sitter has to figure out a way that she won't ruin her clothes.