Ella Sarah may be little, but she has a BIG sense of style--and it isn't at all like that of her mother, father, and older sister. Yet they all want her to dress just like them! Ella Sarah will have none of it--and when her flamboyantly dressed friends arrive, it's clear that Ella Sarah's favorite outfit is just right for her.Margaret Chodos-Irvine's spirited story will gently nudge young children toward independence--providing plenty of exuberant colors and patterns to identify along the way. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

A junior Diana Vreeland in blue sheep jammies, Ella Sarah coolly surveys her open armoire and announces that she will wear "my pink polka-dot pants, my dress with orange-and-green flowers, my purple-and-blue striped socks, my yellow shoes, and my red hat." Family members try to dissuade her from an outfit that they deem too "dressy" or "fancy" or "silly" (the last comes from an older sister trying to pawn off some hand-me-downs). But Ella Sarah resists their admonitions and proves her sartorial instincts are "just right" when the occasion is a dress-up tea party with her friends. A gifted printmaker, Chodos-Irvine (Apple Pie Fourth of July) uses bright but well-modulated colors, sharply defined shapes and plenty of white space to give the pictures a strong graphic punch and convey a range of emotions. When Ella Sarah's ambitions collide with her mother's disapproval (however mild), Chodos-Irvine shows the confident girl's posture curving into a dejected "S"; when Ella Sarah reaches the breaking point, the illustrator depicts her fury by showing only Ella Sarah's hand on the left, with the toy cat she has thrown, flying across the spread. By conveying her heroine's perspective so convincingly, Chodos-Irvine makes the book's ending a triumph-and one that should strike a chord with dress-up fans everywhere. Ages 2-5. (May) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information