Dress Like a Girl by Patricia Toht, Lorian Tu-Dean
Published by HarperCollins on January 22nd 2019
ISBN: 0062798928
Pages: 32
Goodreads

“Dress Like a Girl” purports to be sending a girl power message, telling girls to dress how they want, but the text actually tells girls that they DO have to follow the rules, they can just do so in their own way.  It goes on via text to state what the fashion “rules” are and via the illustrations shows young girls dressing up in ways that sort of meet that rule but in an unexpected way, such as wearing a white space suit for the “crisp white” on a hot summer day rule.  The book’s refrain ends with, “Make your own rules in this big wide world. Set your sights high and…dress like a girl!” and shows all the girls in various outfits from the earlier pages with signs that say “my own hero”, etc. It’s clear what the author was reaching for with this book, attempting to send the message of empowerment to girls, but she really misses the mark here.  The text sends two very different messages, making it very unclear. Are we to live within the rules or do what we want? Not recommended.

Reviewed by Kara Reiman, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook